The Last Time I Saw Clara Poem by Francis Duggan

The last time I saw Clara he wore a hat of snow
And across the fields of Claraghatlea the wintery winds did blow
And the swollen stream in flood of brown through Claramore did flow
And close to seventy seasons since have passed for that was long ago.

The last time I saw Clara the windswept woods were bare
And the chill breath of Winter was in the morning air
And the cold night of heavy frost had left the landscape looking gray
And from the fields of old Duhallow the Spring seemed far away.

The last time I saw Clara the memory still with me
Of the redwings eating red berries upon the holly tree
They had flown down from further north to their old wintering ground
And the weather at it's coldest when these thrushes are around.

The last time I saw Clara the Finnow flowed bank high
And the cold winds of December blew across the wintery sky
And hungry blackbird by the hedgerow scattered leaf litter with his bill and feet
In his frantic search for worms and Invertebrates to eat.