Francis Duggan Poems

Quite beautiful birds i have yet to see in the park of a town
the males with white throat, black cap, yellow unders and wings, back and tail of greyish brown
The quieter plain coloured females yellow unders and mostly bluish gray
They are birds i do know of but do not see every day
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A truism from the past that remains a truism today
Live and let live as the wise one did say
Where respect is due respect you should pay
And never harm anyone in any sort of a way
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In the ever green old countryside where Clara hill looks down
Today the birds are singing in the groves by Millstreet Town
The fields looking resplendent in their wildflowers of the Spring
Such joy to the beholder Nature's beauty does bring
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Time does go so quickly says the old fellow Dan
It does not seem that long ago since i was a young man
But i am more than five decades past my physical prime
And in human years this does seem a very long time
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Where everyone knows everyone it is that sort of town
Yet like everywhere not nice to live in for the financially down
Where if you have lots of money you enjoy local fame
But the one struggling on in life few wish to know by name
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The old fields i loved i may never more see
I only have memories of what used to be
I have long shed the last of my nostalgic tears
Since i have not been in Ireland for thirty two years
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A living hero or celebrity better than a dead one any day
But there is no inequality where dead people lay
The one who makes equal poverty, wealth and fame
The Reaper of lives treats all lives as the same
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On the last time I saw Caherbarnagh the weather was windy and cold
In the early days of December and the old year was getting quite old
Dark clouds hung above Gortavehy it looked like more rain on the way
And frost overnight on the high ground had left the old fields looking gray.
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Addicted to doggerel and addicted to rhyme
So many see that as a great waste of time
They are not interested in the birds and the bees
Or the colours of the blossoms that bloom on the fruit bearing trees.
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The hero of Sydney's Aboriginal people is now with the dead
The Parish Priest of Redfern the great Father Ted
Right till his own end he was on the side
Of the poor fringe dwellers and the marginalized.
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