Francis Duggan Poems

Do not make fun of the poor woman she may be old wrinkled and gray
She once was a young person like you are and you will be like her one day
And you too will look old and wrinkled and you too will walk stiff and slow
The woman is in her mid eighties and respect to her you ought to show.
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Congratulations Tony Abbott on finding your long lost son
Though in helping to create him you must have had good fun
You did not wear a condom which comes as no surprise
Since you believe that birth control is sinful at least in your God's eyes.
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So much for the patriarchal society and the patriarchal ways of life
The man goes home drunk from the Barroom and beats his children and his wife
And the police slow to interfere in such matters they see it as a family affair
Abused women always too many and abusive men now don't seem rare.
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The barn owls the quiet hunting birds of the night
Seen often flying across country roads in motor car headlights
Brown uppers and unders a pale gray to white
Such beautiful birds and so graceful in flight.
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The goldfinches in small flocks they twitter and sing
And the fancy in me it somehow takes to wing
And i find myself back in the field by the hill
On a bright Summer's day by the clear mountain rill.
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Though some they may hurt you with words that they say
As long as their words are not defamatory in any way
Give them back in words as good as you've got
You too can have your go at stirring the pot.
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The migrant waders are flying northwards up to the far northern Spring
They follow the urgings of Nature and Nature's a marvellous thing
To breed in the dunes by the Artic Ocean the Land of snowy owl and white bear
And the Artic fox and musk oxen and the hardy and fleet Artic hare.
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In a disused factory doorway in the dark and the quiet
A mother's teenage daughter lay dying tonight
From a drug overdose in the dark and the cold
She will never have children and grow to be old.
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The beauty of Nature is such a splendid thing
In the sunlit Parkland the birds chirp and sing
Young magpies are piping on the sheoak trees
And there is a gentle freshness in the mild Summer breeze.
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So many are convinced donkeys are stupid
Of Nature's ways so little do we know
Since I had quite a bit to do with donkeys
When I was younger many years ago.
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