Why Did The Child In Me From Me Go Away Poem by Francis Duggan

From my Aunty and Uncle's house in Lisnaboy
I thought Caherbarnagh was touching the sky
To boy of seven years that mountain seemed tall
But compared to high peaks old Caher looks small.

And Clara near Millstreet seemed so far away
But what looked far then seem short distance today
The child and the adult see things differently
And what once looked long distance now seems near to me.

When I was a young fellow in Claraghatlea
I marvelled at sparrow in the merry May
As she flew to her nest on barn rafters with long strands of hay
What brought me joy then doesn't excite me today.

The tiny wren out with her large family
I wondered and marvelled at how could this be?
How could such a small bird so many eggs lay,
Why did the child in me from me go away?

I find now that I no longer can enjoy
All the things that I marvelled at as a young boy
And the mountain I once thought was touching the sky
Seemed to keep looking smaller as years crept on by.