He Works Hard And He Drinks Hard Poem by Francis Duggan

He works hard and he drinks hard and his is not an easy life
And he has lived alone for the past ten years since his long suffering ex wife
Went off with another she has found love at last
She had grown weary of his drinking and he is of her past.

Their son and daughter in their late twenties have got children of their own
He sees them maybe once a year and apart from them he has grown
They live in a northern City 800 miles away
On his own he is ageing and alone he will grow old and gray.

He works on a cherry picker all day long lopping trees
Out in all sorts of weather and in all sorts of degrees
Cutting the heads off of tall trees sixty metres above the ground
He always has the finest view of the countryside for miles around.

He like drinking with his mates and the sing song at the pub
And saturday at the oval cheering on the local football club
And he works hard and he drinks hard and 'twould be fair to say that he
Looks a fit and healthy individual for one of fifty three.