Where Mine Years Ago Poem by Francis Duggan

Where mine years ago to all was a known face
Today i would be a stranger to many in my first home place
Claraghatlea a mile west of the Town of Millstreet
Though some of my past friends there today i would meet
Since i last left there in December twenty seven years ago
Time that does rust steel it has become my foe
I left when old Clara wore a hat of snow
And Finnow in the rushy fields bank high did flow
I live in the home to koala and wallaby and roo
And long bill corella and yellow tail black cockatoo
In Koroit near the old City of Warrnambool
Far south of Millstreet where i went to primary school
And Claraghatlea where i was born and my first home place
Where to many today mine would be a strange face.