On Meeting An Ex Geordie Poem by Francis Duggan

She walks her three golden retrievers in the park by her home every day
A young woman with only the slightest accent though she came from a Land far away
A Geordie from distant Manchester with straight shoulder length blondish hair
Perhaps maybe in her late thirties so likeable and free of care.

A beautiful person of warmth and charm to a lucky man quite a good wife
She has passed her exams to join the police force that will be her career in life
As my dog and her three played together we chatted freely for some while
As well as being an attractive looking woman she did seem free of conceit and guile.

After twenty years in Australia little of the Geordie in her remain
I asked her would she go back to England she said maybe never again
Quite happy to live in Australia and in sunny Victoria grow old
She said I will always love England but the weather there for me too cold.

We wished each other good luck in parting since her I will never more see
I live far from the Melbourne Suburbs and the Suburban life style is not for me
On the flowering gums the lorikeets chirped in the sunshine to cheer me as I walked along
And joy in my ageing heart was bubbling at the beauty of the magpie's song.