A Long Way North Of Poem by Francis Duggan

A long way north of this Southern Country from Koroit Town near Warrnambool
Near Millstreet a Town in Duhallow i was born and raised and went to Millstreet School
That was in the early fifties to the early sixties going back half of a century ago
I now am five years with the sixty and time is becoming my foe

In Claraghatlea where i was born and where i lived as a boy
I first grew interested in Nature and learning of her ways to this day i enjoy
The Winter months were cold, wet and dreary the cattle in sheds wintered on silage and hay
They were out on grass in early April when the swallows returned from far away

When Spring spread her greenery in Duhallow and hawthorns wore their white blooms of May
The dipper sang in the stream rapids and the nesting birds sang to greet the day
The tadpoles the baby amphibians were wriggling in the watery drain
The past may be in the forever but the memories of it with me does remain

I never again may see Clara in his old rugged face of brown
Overlooking the green fields of Duhallow and the countryside near Millstreet Town
Where i lived as a younger person as one full of youthful elan
I am looking and feeling older and time has left me an ageing man.