Francis Duggan Poems

The wattlebirds kept busy all the day
From flowering gum trees chasing them away
But wattlebirds though big are not so fleet
And they can't catch purple crowned lorikeet.
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Chuck Feeney is from Elizabeth in New Jersey Perhaps the greatest person on this earth today
To charities and to other worthy causes he has given four billion dollars away
A renowned philanthropist and a quiet achiever for the betterment of mankind a huge part he play
And yet he never does make the news headlines this quiet man with so few words to say.
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In Spring in pond in grove by the old streamlet amongst the reeds the moorhen built her nest
A bulky mass just above the water level of flags and long dried grass the material she liked best
On which to lay her six to ten buff eggs with light brown speckles she and her partner busy every day
Feeding their first clutch of dark chicks with ruddy faces who hatched out in the early days of May.
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I knew him when I worked at Wiltshire Lane
A nice young chap Paul Baker was his name
He worked for Norman James in Norman's truck
But now he's gone to live one does need luck.
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With human man I know no peace or ease
To him I'm just a spreader of disease
He kill my kin and wage war against me
As if I were his greatest enemy.
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Dear God I have you to thank for what I am
A very happy and a healthy man
You gave me two good legs to walk around
And two strong hands for to earn and honest pound.
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In January in nineteen twenty one more than eighty years ago
When the hills of Duhallow and Sliabh Luachra wore their white hats of snow
Near the Cork border in east Kerry Sean Moylan and his freedom fighting men
Shot to death a Tan Soldier and an R I C commander at Tureengarriffe glen.
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They had lived on Kodiak Island centuries before man came
And they were called Kodiak for want of a better name
They once were plentiful but nowadays considered rare
And man took his toll on the World's largest bear.
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I know, I know the fields are lush and green
And in Summer an average temperature of nineteen
And there's no need to tell me for I know
That from October to March most days are cold enough to snow
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Back home in Nova Scotia now the eastern bluebird sing
And wildering flowers are in full bloom in latter days of Spring
And green woods scenting sweetly with the buds and blooms of May
And I feel very near to home though I live far away.
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