Francis Duggan Poems

Far too many people it does seem this way
The seven billion plus human beings in the Human World of today
Despite wars and famines the human population is on the rise
When it comes to family planning most people are not wise
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The Australian magpies do sing every day
To proclaim their borders this their natural way
And often i do hear them singing at night
Their flute like notes nice to hear in the moonlight
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The old school room and church of St Brigid's in Crossley south west Victoria has strong links to Irish history
Once a meeting place and a house of worship and a school for the children of the local Irish community
Gary Lucas emailed me an article of a happening there going back near a century
When the Australian Government were conscripting young men to fight in the war in Europe for the British Monarchy
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In this place he does feel a stranger the man from the faraway town
Here he has no wish for to marry and raise children and settle down
He is contract bound for six months work here and after that he is going home
The Londoner always loves London as much as the Roman loves Rome
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The years have left him walking slower time it does catch up on us all
In his prime years going back forty Summers he was handsome, athletic and tall
In the ninety seventy Grand Final he was voted the best on ground
Back then in all of the football clubs of the region his equal was not to be found
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Do you feel that you have been taken for granted this does happen to people every day
To be overlooked is not a pleasant feeling this would seem quite a fair thing to say
When others see fit to treat you in such a manner it strips away from you some self esteem
When credit you feel you've earned to you not given it can feel deflating or so it does seem
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Not everyone lives by the code of honor
And not everyone is faithful to the truth
There are some who seem very short of scruples
And there are some who do sadly lack in ruth
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You like to tell me of how marvelous you are
Of the size of your house and the size of your car
And of your recent job promotion on your climb to material success
But your sort of stories me does not impress
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To me human behavior can be a hard to understand thing
So many people in the shower love to sing
But they would never sing in front of a crowd
By nerves to sing for an audience many people are cowed
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The human will power it cannot be denied
A lesser man than Alby Clarke would have died
But in his mid life he took up long distant running and brought the kilos down
And now he is known and famous far from Warrnambool Town
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