The Moorhen Chirp Where Rank Grass Grow Poem by Francis Duggan

The moorhen chirp where rank grass grow
On bank by where Sullane waters flow
And wild flowers in their billions bloom
In meadows just out of Macroom.

And lark is singing as he fly
A small speck in the sunny sky
And butterflies flit from shrub to flower
They age two years in every hour.

And in rank rushy patch nearby
The russet hare of mankind shy
Is half asleep in his hidden lie
On this the first day of July.

The migrant recalls as a boy
In Summer weather warm and dry
He and his mates in river pool
Splashed and frolicked to keep cool.

His hair once brown now silvery gray
But he feels young again today
When his boyhood memories he recall
At least for him the best of all.

And still on bank by where Sullane flow
The moorhen chirp where rank grass grow
And wild flowers in their billions bloom
In meadows just out of Macroom.