Francis Duggan Poems

When last i saw old Clara he wore his hat of snow
And Finnow from the high ground with a loud babble did flow
Bank high in fields of Inchaleigh and Claraghatlea in flood waters of brown
On it's way to the Blackwater just west of Millstreet Town
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The flaws in others that seem obvious to me
Are the flaws in myself that i do not wish to see
Whoever first said that was one who was very wise
Our weaknesses from others we try hard to disguise
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Rupert Murdoch's empire is in trouble but he doesn't care
Since after all old Rupert is a multi billionaire
His great newspaper The News Of The World no longer to be published due to scandals in galore
But despite all of this his empire will survive as it has done before
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Duhallow old timers to this day recall
That they played for love of music that was all
Though theirs was far more than local renown
Back when they were the pride of Millstreet Town
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I would love to go back to the place by the hill
Back to where the clear silver tongued mountain rill
On to the big river with a babble does flow
Through fields and by ditches and by grove and hedgerow
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What others think of me it does suit me fine
Since that is their business and their business not mine
I have been praised by some and by some harshly criticized
At the words of others i try not to be surprised
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Old Jim likes to talk of when he was a young man
Virile, fit and healthy and full of elan
And of the women he made love to too many to name
Long before the passing of time left him weary and tame
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I hate to see life forms suffer the life forms for us who die
But on saying that i am hypocritical as i am one who lives with a lie
Since i too eat the cooked flesh of slaughtered birds, fish and animals which i must admit i enjoy
Eating for i have been a human carnivore ever since i was a young boy
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The good memories till death will be living in me
Of the beautiful town overlooking the sea
The sound of the waves splashing on the rocks of the shore
A sound that's destined to live forever more
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I did spend my best years in Millstreet and in retrospect i recall
That it was a place of famous sports people in athletics and gaelic football
And though sports to many are important the best memories of Millstreet to me
Are of the landscape and waterways home to the wild and the free
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