Francis Duggan Summer Poems

The first of the calendar Summer and the first of December and the rain drizzling down
On the streets and the parks and the sidewalks of old Koroit Town
The weather wet and cloudy for the time of year
But weatherwise that Nature is never predictable is obviously quite clear
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In the warmth of early Summer quite melodious and clear
The blackbird is singing to tell rain is near
If not tonight or tomorrow then later today
Nature's creatures are telling us rain's on the way
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The sun it grows warmer as the temperatures rise
And the air it is full of the buzzing of flies
The creek it is empty the roadside drain is bone dry
And in the distance the smoke of the bush fire billows to the sky,
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A pleasant day with a slight cooling breeze
And a forecast high of twenty five degrees
And blackbird pipe on a coastal ti tree
In Cape Paterson beside the Gippsland sea.
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June in Duhallow a nice time of year
Where the song of the cuckoo one often does hear
The migratory nest parasite who arrives in May
Can be heard singing cuckoo in June every day
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The morning cool and scarce a puff of breeze
And pale eyed ravens cawing on the sunlit trees
And the last petal has gone from the rose
And Autumn near and Summer at a close.
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Summer school holidays as a youngster was a thing that I used to enjoy
In Cullen with my uncle Dan and my aunt Mary on their farm in Lisnaboy
In the sunlit meadows of Duhallow the pleasant aroma of hay
Good memories of what was last a lifetime and till death with us destined to stay.
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The swallows all day long in the cloudy sky
Above the high mountain fields to and fro fly
And wood pigeons birds that are timid and shy
In unison cooing in the woodland nearby
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Good memories live in me as a source of joy
Of the happy times i spend in green Lisnaboy
On Summer school holidays in the farm of aunt Mary and uncle Dan
Going back some six decades in time quite a span
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The things once near and dear to me now seems so far away
Yet in my flights of fancy i can scent the new mown hay
Where the dark winged migrant swallows are chirping as they fly
Above the sunlit meadows of Summer in July
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In the prime of Summer on warm July
Countless stars shining in the clear sky
The scream of a barn owl echoed in the still of the night
And the cross on Clara was visible in the moonlight
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In the high country by Mushera the sweet scent of hay
Wafting in the breeze on this bright Summer's day
And above the high fields in the blue and sunny sky
On pursuit of flying insects the dark swallows fly
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On this warm Summer's evening beauty all around me
A magpie is warbling on a sunlit gum tree
A forecast high for the day of twenty four degrees
And the air full of the buzzing of bush flies and bees
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The famous dead their names we may recall
But the gift of life is the greatest gift of all
For fame it is quite useless to the dead
I am sure by others you have heard that said,
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On the second week of Summer and December a songster of the Spring
A gold billed male blackbird in the gray dawn does sing
His kind distinctive and familiar with ways of their own
For their beautiful song are loved and widely known
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Good memories are always a source of great joy
I still recall Summer days in Lisnaboy
Above the old fields the barn swallows did fly
In pursuit of flying insects in balmy July
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The long billed corellas at the end of a blustery summer's day
Are calling on the high trees in the twilight gray
On an evening quite cool for the time of the year
The soughing of the freshening wind in the tall trees i hear
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It is the last day of the Summer and close to if not thirty degrees
The sunny sky is blue and cloudless and there's warmth in the gentle breeze
The cat in the shade she is resting out of the sunlight she finds ease
And in the silence of early evening birds don't sing or chirp on the sunlit trees.
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A bright and sunny Summer's morning and clear and blue the sky
And white, brown and spotted butterflies around the garden fly
And the nearby hills of Archies Creek now wear their Summer brown
All in the prime of Summer in old Wonthaggi Town.
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To me from Summer meadows come the pleasant scent of hay
And i hear the finches singing on the hedgerows far away
And to the shallows of the sunlit river pool the minnows venture out
The red spotted silvery little fishes who will grow into brown trout,
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How graceful to watch in the calm Summer sky
Above the white beach the silver gulls fly
And in the warm morning air in the park by the sea
The familiar voice of the dainty pee wee
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On a warm day in the Summer on the flowering bushes and trees
The chirpings of the nectar eating birds and the buzzings of the nectar gathering bees
The sun shining in the clear blue sky with a welcome coolness in the afternoon breeze
A forecast low of 27 and a high of 35 degrees.
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In the quietness of a Summer morning in the sunshine after rain
The rufous whistler in the woodland he is singing once again
And brown butterflies are dancing in the very gentle breeze
Around the shrubs and bushes in the shadows of the trees
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The first day of the Southern Summer in the Southern Hemisphere
The sun shines in the blue sky and a blackbird I do hear
His beautiful song so melodious and clear
On the first day of December the twelfth month of the year,
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Through the fields the sun rays creep
And the little birds wake from their sleep
And cheerful are the notes they play
To welcome the new born day.
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The morning was cool and windless in that old Victorian town
And the rain came down in drizzles as we drove from Camperdown
The paddocks dry from the long dry spell and looking bare and brown
And in the first week of February Mother Nature wore her russet gown.
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On Terry's Hill the birds sing in the sunshine and everywhere looks so fresh after rain
A bright and breezy first day of December and Summer is back in the Hills again
And Puffing Billy Belgrave's renowned steam train up through Selby towards Gembrook puffs his way
At every crossing his driver blows the whistle and history repeated every day.
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The buzz of flies and wasps and bees
The birds rejoice on leafy trees,
The flowers of Nature bloom between
The grass so lush and richly green.
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