Quite A Contrast Poem by Francis Duggan

Today it is cold in Duhallow the weather temperatures at minus three degrees
And the chilly gales from the Boggeraghs are howling in the naked trees
But here in the Moyne Shire it is humid and sunny the warm air full of the buzzing of bush flies and bees
And white butterflies above the paddocks seemingly dancing in the breeze
Quite a contrast to distant Duhallow where cattle in farmyard sheds are bellowing for silage or hay
Where from the freezing overnight frost the deserted fields are looking gray
The hungry wild birds in the backyards by back doors pecking crumbs of bread
Some of them will not live till the Springtime many cold days and nights of them ahead
In the Summer breeze blowing in the Moyne Shire the sweet scent of grass mowed for hay
What a contrast this is to Duhallow far north of here and far away
The welcome swallows they are chirping as in pursuit of flying insects they fly
With the warmth of the sun on their dark wings they turn and twist in the sky
Out there in the sunlit brown paddocks the magpie larks calling pee wee
So different today in Duhallow where the cold gales howl in every bare tree.