Francis Duggan Poems

Perhaps i will never climb Clara again
In Spring overlooking the countryside lush and green from recent rain
With amazing views of Duhallow and Sliabh Luachra beyond Rathmore and Knocknagree
Such wonderful beauty that i have been privileged to see
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The song of the blackbird a familiar voice of the Spring
From all other songbirds a distinctive thing
Unlike the native Australian magpie who sings every day of the year
For nine months the blackbird's song one does not hear
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Her father Pat hailed from Millstreet in Duhallow a member of the famous Cashman clan
In Canada with his wife and family he grew old and lived out his life span
His daughter Kitty is a famous race walker in the World Masters Games in Puerto Rico, Spain and Italy she has walked her way to renown
With World gold and silver and bronze medals how many would know of this in Millstreet Town?
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Denis Napthine and Dan Tehan as political power-brokers are known and famed far and wide
And are known to be strong Parliamentary adversarial exponents of the political divide
But they seem to be far from some of the people of Commercial Road when the rain buckets down
And floods the Main Street in old Koroit Town
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On the fork of the branch she sits on some upwards with binoculars at her do stare
Whilst others with flash cameras take photographs of her later with family and friends for to share
Yet of her audience the resting marsupial does not seem aware
In fact koalas of human curiosity do not seem to care
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The old Hopkins River in flood waters of brown
Deep and slow and silent does crawl on by Warrnambool Town
On towards the Blue Hole where into the Pacific it does flow
How old are the rivers would anyone know?
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Advice from afar of which i did avail
Mike C from Millstreet reminded me in an email
If you cannot visit Claraghatlea in person visit there by Google Earth instead
This from a man in his thinking of me far ahead
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Since the majority of the Australian population their army admire
They are quickly forgiven when an explosive test gone wrong starts a major fire
Like the huge bush fire at Lithgow that thousands of acres of countryside and a few homes destroyed
A blaze in which many animals wild and domesticated would have died
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Some say that the days of the rhymers are gone
But the rhymers as ever rhyming and rhyme will live on
Despite what the twenty first century literary dons of them do say
The rhymers are living and penning rhymes today
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At one hundred and four years of age Warrnambool's oldest person was buried today
In Tower Hill Cemetery Lottie Bowman's last remains at rest forever lay
She lived through two World wars and good and bad economic times knew
In the Human World centenarians are few
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