Francis Duggan Poems

Never more in Gortavehy will he hear the songbirds sing
Or see the swallows flying o'er the old fields in the Spring
And though from his old Townland his bones may rest elsewhere
Forever in Gortavehy his spirit will remain there.
...

The day for November quite warm with only the faintest sign of breeze
And starlings from the trees to the garden railings flying and flying back again to the trees
The weather temperature in the high twenties from 27 to 29 degrees
And in the shade of the gum in the paddock the cow sits and chews her cud at ease.
...

What right have they to enforce the death penalty those State and National Governments who have such a law
It should not even be used as an option though everyone their own conclusion draw
On the rights and wrongs of the death penalty I am on the side of those who say no
To the legalization of human life taking spare the lives of all of those on death row.
...

She recalls her prime years in the eighties as the young woman young men wished to know
But what a change the passage of time bring as that was two decades ago
And though attractive for one in her forties her better days are clearly gone
The young men at her no longer whistle the clock on her is ticking on.
...

The workers again they are marching two hundred thousand in Melbourne today
Protested against the Government's Industrial Relations Bill the fight is only beginning they say
United we won't be defeated but divided we are bound to fall
We must stand as one on this issue the Government's bluff we will call,
...

Everybody have some things in common from the pauper to the billionaire
We all must die sooner or later and we all breathe the very same air
And red is the colour of our blood the differences between us not great
And the child born today getting older and time on none ever does wait.
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Sport it is not all fun it would seem or that's how it would seem to be
For the losers only sadness and for the winners the joy of victory
F I F A World cup qualifying games are one example the losing fans are a sad sight to see
They look and feel devastated to know they won't be going to Germany.
...

I do not wish to hear your life story though I wish you all of the best in life
You are not the only man in the World who can boast of a beautiful wife
And you are not the only man in the World to be an acclaimed millionaire
Your type of man is not endangered and your type of man not even rare.
...

There is more to life for any woman than being a faithful and a devoted wife
To a selfish and egotistical fellow until the last day of her life
To one who remains as a rude teenager in his behaviour who uses her as his sexual toy
She cares for him and for their children whilst the good life he seems to enjoy.
...

The clock on the table is ticking I feel it is ticking for me
Each tick nearer to my last heartbeat beyond that nothing else I can see
To those who believe in a life hereafter good luck to them is all I can say
None of an afterlife have come back to tell them though they are convinced of a judgement day,
...