Nature's Garden Far Away Poem by Francis Duggan

Those old feelings of nostalgia are stirred up by the beer
Where the rapids of the river run the dipper's song I hear
And the chaffinch he is singing in the grove beside the rill
And the skylark he is carolling above the bracken hill.

I visualize the blackbird's nest of clay and mosses made
And I see three green brown spotted eggs the female bird has laid
And the robin he is singing on the flowering horse chestnut tree
And the fields are full of wildflowers Nature's beauty surrounds me.

The drinking group that I am part of are all sports minded men
Will the Aussies in the cricket have another mighty win
And will Brisbane the champions of Aussie rules football win the flag again this year?
Each to their own or so they say or so it would appear.

But their conversation I don't feel with for my thoughts are far away
Where the gray fog cloaks the mountain on a damp and rainy day
They must think me rather moody not the best of company
Yet in their group they make me feel welcome for they sit and drink with me.

O'er the green vale by the mountain I can see the swallows fly
And I hear them chirp and twitter in the gray late April sky
And on the leafy hedgerow the plain brown dunnock sings his song
Still with places once familiar the bond now doesn't seem that strong.

It's the beer again that takes me to Nature's garden far away
To the places I grew up in back to where I did not stay
But the memories are fading like the wildflowers in decay
And the old face getting older and the balding head more gray.