Francis Duggan Poems

Of the what used to be i will never be free
Wherever i go to my past goes with me
Suppose this is how it will be till the day i do die
The fact is we are creatures of memory and fact does not lie
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Some men and some women are married for life
But Evergreen Johnny is with his sixth wife
Well into his seventies his gray hair dyed brown
He fancies himself as a man about town
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All men do grow older but few do grow wise
This is something of late i have come to realize
And do believe me i am one who should know
For i have grown older but wiser did not grow
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They were born into the tribes of the lesser gods
The people who to succeed who must beat the odds
Many of them live in dire poverty and die in a tragic way
And many millions of their kind in the Human World of today
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A long way from here to the far away town
Where the narrow road by the mountains does wind up and down
Where no factory smoke is to be seen in the sky
And the big dark brown weerloos do call as they fly
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Though some more famous than others it does seem fair to say
Every person is talented in some sort of a way
Some in the arts and literature and science and technology for themselves make a name
And some in the World of music and entertainment do know of great fame
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What we dislike in ourselves we dislike in others when it we do see
The one who first said this one far wiser than me
And as our flaws to most of us are quite well known
We do not like to be reminded in others in ourselves what we wish to disown
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Though from where i now live many sky miles away
In fancy i am in Claramore Wood today
Listening to the wild born nesting birds whistle and sing
The workings of Nature quite an amazing thing
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Near where humans live they are happy to stay
These birds that i hear and i see every day
Known as magpie lark or mud lark or to some as pee wee
Birds familiar to many and familiar to me
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So many poor people who are doing it tough
Homeless on the poor streets and at night sleeping rough
In disused old factories and house ruins, on park benches and in the shelter of park trees
Often in wintry temperatures of zero degrees
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