Francis Duggan Poems

He came to Melbourne in his late teens at the threshold of his prime
Forty two years in Australia that does seem a long time
Mick Kelleher is a young grandfather but time does not stand still
It has been awhile he will tell you since he last climbed Clara Hill
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On top of the gum tree the old pale eyed crow
Is talking to his neighbours of his kind of what they would know
Perhaps he is saying to them if this way you do fly
I will show you where food is to here 'tis nearby
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When I tell you what I think you go off in a huff
Only few can write poetry anyone can pen stuff
You tell everyone you are a great poet though that should not be for you to say
You should leave it to others to praise you it sounds better that way
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He does not have stories to tell of battles fought and won
Or of any great things in his life he has done
The poor homeless alcoholic has turned sixty one
Yet his deceased mum loved him and was proud of her son.
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A member of the Irish Workers Party and a Socialist and a true Republican
And he loved Ireland and the Irish Language Neil Healy was a very special man
A family person and a quiet achiever he was one worthy of far greater note
I'd like to write a poem in his honour were I born with the genius of a poet.
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I've travelled far from my old home
Yet I've not been to Paris or Rome
Just two of the many Cities I have not seen
Yet I have travelled in places brown and green
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I have loved Mother Nature since i was a boy
And learning of her ways i still do enjoy
Yet so little about her i can claim to know
And my wonder of her only does seem to grow
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Their songs and their colors to their identity a give away
The beautiful birds i do see and do hear every day
The magpie the bird with the beautiful flute like song
By sight or by sound one cannot get him wrong
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He does have a very sad look on his face
Disappointment in sport can be hard to embrace
At the weekend the team he is a fan of did not win
Yet life does go on and the sky did not fall in
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The rhymes come to me and on paper i pen them down
Though in that for me there's no wealth or renown
And something for me to rhyme of every day
To rhyme is so easy it does seem this way
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