Francis Duggan Poems

The buzz of flies and wasps and bees
The birds rejoice on leafy trees,
The flowers of Nature bloom between
The grass so lush and richly green.
...

To some this vale may seem remote
But had I the genius of a poet
I'd write of what I hear and see
And all this beauty that captivates me.
...

From high paddock in Belgrave south at twilight of the day
I heard the kookaburras on gums not far away
I heard them laughing in the wood and their laughter sounded shrill
In the calm of the evening as darkness enveloped the hill.
...

He hopes for a better tomorrow for himself and his children and wife
And for happiness and a bit more financial security is all that he ask for in life
One might say he doesn't ask for that much compared to some his dreams seem small
Compared to those who talk in millions his dreams do not seem big at all.
...

The skylarks carolling o'er their breeding borders in sunlit sky above the Gippsland hills
And wildflowers in their billions fresh and blooming by hedgerows and by creeks and mountain rills
And magpie from high branch of eucalyptus fly down and attack every passer by
With nest to defend he feels quite aggressive for his young in nest he is prepared to die.
...

Some say that poets are born and poets cannot be made
But workshop poets say anyone can learn the wordsmith trade
And though they are seen by many as those who did not make the grade
At the weekends they run writing workshops for which they get highly paid.
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The schoolboy could scarce believe what he see
He watched as the car veered off the road and hit a tree
It was his father's car was this a dream?
And he felt shocked even too shocked to scream.
...

From Deniliquin to Jerilderie paddocks gray and bare and brown
On to Narrandera and West Wyalong and many smaller country town,
To Forbes and Parkes and on through Dubbo, Gilgandra and Coonabarabran
Miles and miles of weary travel through the world of outback man.
...

On the gum tree in the garden white backed magpie flutes his song
But it's raining in Wonthaggi and the wind is blowing strong
Two days back it was so balmy around twenty five degrees
It was perfect Summer weather with the faintest cooling breeze.
...

The stream swelled by recent Spring rains by the hedgerow flowed brown
When Mary left Duhallow and old Newmarket Town
She hugged and kissed her mother and she hugged her dad goodbye
And the tears that welled within her heart she stifled with a sigh.
...