Francis Duggan Poems

Long years of marriage it would seem is now going out of fashion
But young love it is fresh and warm and never lacks in passion
And though young love seldom last for years and it ends with tearful love aching
Most loves don't ever last for life and love can be heartbreaking,
...

It is not for money not at all or literary renown
That these doggerels that are in my head in paper I put down
It is just the compulsion that I feel to write that keeps me keeping on
That keeps me penning worthless rhymes though all hope of fame has gone.
...

It used to be home for me Seasons ago how quickly the years seem to fly
And near two decades have passed since I last heard the lark above Clara hill in July
In Millstreet Town I'd feel a stranger today great changes have been happening there
Many of those I knew to the reaper have gone and others are living elsewhere.
...

George the young man from England is homesick in Geelong
For the beautiful city of Birmingham the home of football and song
Six months ago he came to Australia for work and adventure but he grows more homesick as the days go by
He will return to old Birmingham where rain clouds often darken the sky.
...

In the Land of the blind as the saying goes the one eyed fellow is the king
And we look to him as a hero and his praises we gladly sing
To him we surrendered our power in the first place and for that he repays us in fear
Of the treachery of our so called enemies from him is all that we do hear.
...

The melaleucas are cloaked in their white flowers as if they are laden with snow
And the warm sun of December in the blue of the Summer sky glow
In Hawkesdale in the Southern Grampians it is such a beautiful day
If there is an Earthly Utopia from here it can't be far away.
...

The shearers are having their breakup Christmas parties in the Southern Grampians pubs they celebrate
The end of a good shearing Season shearers from New Zealand and Interstate
In pub backyards sing around the barby they are full of warm Christmas cheer
The shearers work hard for a living and the shearers renowned drinkers of beer.
...

Whatever the future holds for us we all have a past history
And the saddest thing for some ageing migrants is the old friends they will never more see
The old friends back in the home Country some of them with the departed lay
The years have left them looking older they have known a far better day,
...

Henry Lawson sang of The Drover
Though those days are now in the past
And the passing of time always bring change
And nothing ever does seem to last.
...

He will always be loved by one person despite what some of him might say
His mother will surely grieve for him the man they are hanging today
His mother for his life she pleaded and she must live with the heartache
That will live with her till the reaper claims her since her son is to die at daybreak,
...