Francis Duggan Poems

It has been awhile since i lived in Duhallow in the green country where Blackwater flow
In the fields of rabbit, hare and rook, fox and badger and the bird referred to by many as gray crow
The memories of the past in me are living and on my flights of fancy i do see
The gray fogs of rain creep slowly down the Boggeraghs it does seem Duhallow it has followed me
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So happy looking and down to earth and free of guile
The beautiful young woman with the beautiful smile
She greeted me a stranger as if i were a friend
Nice people i like meeting of this i won't pretend
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In the Len Sprague Reserve near Forrest which is on the way
To the Great Ocean Road Town of Apollo Bay
The sun it is hidden behind clouds of gray
And the blackbirds are singing on this October day
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Surrounded by treed hills and millions of trees
Halls Gap of the Geriwerd a Town full of great memories
For people who have been there for a holiday
And many of them hope to return to there for a longer stay
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The sweet scent of frshly mowed grass for silage or for hay
Come wafting in the freshening breeze on this sunlit November day
And the weather temperature for the day of a high of twenty degrees
The warm air full of the buzzing of bush flies and of bees
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A stranger to many people one of the not well known
The gift of life my parents gave to me the only gift i own
The wealthy and the famous of the Human World of today
I do not envy them their lot in any sort of way
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Distance to memory is not a barrier as the wise are known to say
The church bell at the West End i hear it toll today
For another one departed a heart forever still
On a farewell to the cemetery for to lay by Cashman's Hill
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Some of the young males in the pub like to crow
Of the women they have made love to they want others to know
On boasting in public of their virility they are not very wise
Since on doing so the reputation of local women they demoralize
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A little pride is useful for one it does seem
But not healthy for the mind when in the extreme
For a strong sense of pride in the words of the wise
To feelings of self conceit of has been known to give rise
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It is windy, cold and raining by the Boggeraghs today
In Duhallow and Sliabh Luachra from here far away
The sun is well hidden behind clouds of gray
And in the farmyard sheds cattle are bellowing for silage or hay
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