Francis Duggan Poems

Of the highlights of his life to tell he has none
And he cannot boast of the honours he has won
And she is not extraordinary his ordinary wife
The ordinary man leads an ordinary life.
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In old Caherbarnagh you will not find gold
But wealthy people live there or so I've been told
Cash crops in the Fall they don't have for to reap
But the hill farmers there make lots of money in sheep
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In modern poetry there is no place for old style rhyme
'Tis seen as belonging to another time
But such is life as some have been known to say
And rhyme now seen as old fashioned though it did have it's day
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Have you ever been at the door of despair
And to you life has been anything but fair
Bill Boiler has been there many times in his life
In his many struggles with his inner strife.
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I've been adoring Goddess of Nature since I was very young
And I like many others her praises have often sung
Her beauty all around me I see it every day
And in my lowly gift of doggerel respect to her I pay
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Like dark corks amidst the windblown waves they keep bobbing up and down
The moorhens and their cousin coots in the big lake near the town
From water they never venture far they swim and dive for their acquatic prey
They are born to be water birds Nature made them this way
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I cannot even hope to imagine the way that you do feel
Compared to some your problems may seem little but to you your problems are real
Life's journey is not always easy and life's not always fair
And many left to struggle with their black dog of despair.
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I live far from my Native Land and Hibernia's windswept shore
And from my old home by the roadway from Millstreet to Rathmore
But in my flights of fancy I hear the silver tongued rill
Go babbling towards the river down the high fields by the hill
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There is nothing wrong with dying in death there is equality
Of the judgements of the living the dead are forever free
All the dead greats of human history are deaf to words of praise
You are free to sing their praises but from their graves them that will not raise.
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The person who defames you can never be your mate
But never think about revenge or surrender to hate
Just get on with your life on your side you have truth
And consider yourself lucky to have the gift of youth
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