Francis Duggan Poems

There have been so many stories of Duhallow's fighting men
Such as the heroes of the ambush at Tureengarriffe Glen
When Kiskeam's Sean Moylan was carving his own renown
One who was admired and famous in many a Cork and Kerry town
...

As some people do grow older with hair dye they cloak their gray
And with anti aging creams they smooth away the wrinkles of time's decay
But pride does not keep them living one day longer time on them does tick away
And those who will be humanity's future are the children of today
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Do you ever feel your life's journey is leading you to nowhere
And though you have seen a bit of the big World out there
You are still a nobody in an ordinary town
Without even a small claim to local renown
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It is said that knowledge and wisdom it does come with age
But in years i am closer to seventy than sixty and i am not a sage
And of many i know of my age i can say the same
With knowledge and wisdom few that i can name
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It was a mighty river according to old Joe
When he was a youngster seven decades ago
But climate change it seems has become the foe
Of the Loddon that has lost some of the depth of it's flow
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So many books written and so many stories told
Of the heroes of battles the fearless and bold
They went out to kill and they died under fire
And for the way that they died many them do admire
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They mostly apply to the male kind the words born to rule
Some people with great power are known to be cruel
The autocratic leader with power gone to his head
Those who did oppose him you will find with the dead
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I feel happy to wake in the morning and know that i am very much alive
The Reaper's of lives is not looking my way one needs luck in life to survive
And i feel very lucky to be living since many younger and fitter than me with the dead
I only take each day as it comes to me and i never do look too very far ahead
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The judgements of others with me suits me fine
For what they think of me no business of mine
I am what i am this is all i can be
And what others think of me no bother to me
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It never fails to fill my mind with delight
The songs of the magpies on a moonlit Winter's night
At the start of their breeding Season when the Spring is near
Their night territorial piping so pleasant to hear
...