Francis Duggan Poems

The old miners of Wonthaggi they may look old and gray
And they may now walk slowly but they too had their day
When they worked down in the coalmine and every day seemed
long
...

Her breasts are bouncing up and down as she jogs in the rain
I hear her pant as she trots by and her face shows the
strain
Of one into self punishment to keep those kilos down
...

It's been more than fifty years as i remember
And many Autumn leaves gone with the flooded rill
Since i first saw the face of a dead person
The silent remains of old 'Jack Will Bill'.
...

In the day she's seldom seen out like the snail she's in her shell
But at night she dress up and put on makeup to look good for the clientele
And then she walk to the street corner at the top of Acland street
And for three or four or even five hours you will see her on her beat.
...

This is the suburb of the high achievers
You won't find any battlers living here
The cheapest house it sells at half a million
For most people that would seem far too dear.
...

No matter where the cafe or the bus stop
The pub or sidewalk of the busy street
It's part of what is their time honoured custom
That Maoris will rub noses when they greet.
...

Beyond Rathmore a few miles into kerry
Like sentinels they stand the Paps of Shrone
For countless centuries they've been together
And without each other they might seem alone.
...

In green hedgerows of Flintfield songbirds pipe all the day
And countless wildflowers burst to bloom in meadows far away
And from the deep Blackwater pools trout jump to catch the fly
And butterflies flit to and fro across the sunny sky.
...

To where i came from war wasn't a stranger and brother to brother took gun
And the old balladeer still sing the old songs of how the great battles were won
The Boys of Kilmichael and Kevin Barry, Wolfe Tone and the Flag of Sinn Fein
Old Jose ask me what they sing of to him do i have to explain? .
...

Wearing shorts and sleeveless singlets their arms and legs bronzed brown
You see them with their ladies the hunks of Broadbeach Town
With massive gleaming biceps their muscles bulging out
Enamoured by their bodies you see them strut about.
...