Francis Duggan Poems

Darky the old black labrador his muzzle with age gray
And Jim his master in his mid seventies says like me he has known a better day
He once could run quite quickly but his fastest speed now slow
And his date with the Reaper is drawing nearer though of death he does not know.
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Today a back to Winter day a chill is in the breeze
In early Spring in Victoria we do get days of under fifteen degrees
Today between the heavy showers a brief burst of sunshine
Yet compared to the heavy rains of yesterday today seems even fine.
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You may have come home a hero from the killing streets of war
But that does not tell us much about you or what sort of a man you are
The one who never fired a gun and to his beliefs is true
Though by many not seen as a hero is not a lesser man than you.
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The Spring was windy, wet and cold the Summer much the same
Poor Seanie he felt tired and old his wife Brid frail and lame
Four acres and three cows to their name their best cow she had died
Two of the many rural poor in a poor countryside.
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The role models of my boyhood years with the departed lay
By Cashman's hill near Millstreet Town far north and far away
From this great Southern Country where I grow old and gray
The memory of their goodness remain with me today.
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It is a very natural thing for one to love their Land of birth
And think that their Homeland Country is the finest Land on Earth
In his Lay of the last Minstrel Walter Scott said it all
Often with tears the migrant the old Homeland recall.
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Tiny birds of mouse size one might say
And their kind one does not see every day
Spotted Pardalote the name they are known by
Their lives are brief they soon grow old and die.
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Like many I grow older but I do not grow more wise
And like they say I do suppose boys always will be boys
And I too have grown cynical I cannot distinguish truth from lies
In this age of propaganda that should come as no surprise.
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I feel confused and disenchanted my soul is full of strife
And I do not have achievements for to tell of in my life
I've never been to Uni or can boast of a degree
Go pray for yourself mister don't waste your prayers on me.
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I met a nice old lady in the park with her black poodle on a lead
She smiled and said a lovely day a lovely day indeed
She had a warmth about her this marvellous old dear
The marigolds were blooming it was their time of the year.
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