Francis Duggan April Poems

Those merry minstrels of the sky
The skylarks pipe their songs of joy
And every wildborn songbird sing
For love of life and joy of Spring.
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The fox is hunting on the mountain there's no mistaking his wild cry
And the full moon is silently stealing it's way through the Autumn night sky
The boobook owl on the moonlit acacias utters forth his distinctive mopoke call
On a calm night in early April in the prime of the southern Fall
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The bluebells by the hedgerow are blooming rich and blue
And in the pine grove by the cottage the shy wood pigeon coo
And the swallows o'er the old fields are twittering as they fly
And skylark he is carolling in the cloudy morning sky.
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Until mid April on higher parts of Mushera
Scattered here and there lingering patches of snow
And though songbirds in the high woods are singing
The mountain winds are chilly when they blow.
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The coastal breeze is so refreshing and beauty is all around me
And the silver gulls rest in the sunshine in a park overlooking the sea
The wind driven waves of saltwater are lapping on the sandy shore
And above the bridge to Phillip Island the black backed Pacific gulls soar.
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With folded wings the fishing gannets plunge into the sea
And the nuggety old man with fishing rod was waiting patiently
For a fish to bite as the incoming waves splashed quite close to his feet
And each new wave it came surging in as each old wave did retreat.
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Old March is still in April and the wind blows a cool chill
Across the windswept bracken of ancient Mushera hill
And the fields by Aubane river wet where the floods have been
But this countryside looks beautiful in all it's shades of green.
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In the coastal countryside close to Warrnambool
The day it is breezy and showery and cool
A weather forecast high for the day of seventeen degrees
And a non seasonal coolness in the coastal breeze
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In the sunny blue sky just a few patches of gray
For mid Autumn and April such a warm Summer like day
A weather temperature high for the day of twenty seven degrees
And a non seasonal warmth in the gentle breeze
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In the ever green old countryside where Clara hill looks down
Today the birds are singing in the groves by Millstreet Town
The fields looking resplendent in their wildflowers of the Spring
Such joy to the beholder Nature's beauty does bring
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Over high Clarabeg the sky is looking gray
And the sun in the rain clouds is hidden away
Quite typical weather for April one only can say
And the birds they are singing in Dereen today
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The sun behind gray clouds is hidden away
But the birds they are singing in Mushera today
Above the high fields of the foothills the barn swallows fly
On pursuit of flying insects across the gray sky
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The first of the calendar Winter just six weeks away
Yet for the middle of April quite a sultry day
The deciduous trees turning yellow and brown
And losing their leaves in the park of the town
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On my flights of fancy i often does hear
The skylark above Gneeves Bog in the Spring of the year
A musical speck in the gray of the sky
As up to the cloud World he sing as he fly
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Above the brown scrubland of Kilcunda the skylark not singing today
Where slowly and silently the dark Powlett River towards the Pacific slowly crawls on it's way
On a wattle tree that has lived for many Seasons the black and white magpie with the silver bill
Is warbling in the gray of the morning in a place where time seems to stand still
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The countryside looks green around Koroit Town
A few weeks ago the paddocks were dry and brown
Though the creeks down to a trickle and bone dry every drain
And Koroit and surrounds could do with a lot more rain
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A cool day in late April the rain from a gray sky drizzling down
But the white backed magpies are singing in the park of the town
The warbling flute like notes familiar and pleasant for to hear
Of the birds that are seldom silent they sing all through the year
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In Yangery today it is eighteen degrees
With a cool freshness in the coastal breeze
Blowing above the paddocks across the gray sky
The weather forecast for the day is cloudy and dry
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For April and mid Autumn such a warm day
In the sunny blue sky just a few clouds of gray
A weather temperature high for the day of twenty five degrees
And white butterflies dancing in the warm breeze
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Where to many mine it is not a known face
I feel privileged to be living in such a beautiful place
Illowa between Warrnambool City and old Koroit Town
Of south western Victoria a gem in the crown
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The sky over Yangery sunless and gray
And it looks like that there will not be much sunshine today
In the brown and dry paddocks that look rather exposed and bare
There is not enough of grass for to sustain a hare
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Back there in the fields of the silver backed crow
Where Finnow the white river to the Blackwater flow
Deciduous trees sprouting new leaves and fruit bearing plants in their blooms of pink to gray
And the wildborn birds of song are singing today
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Late April in Duhallow a lovely time of year
The song of the blackbird melodious and clear
Less than a weeks from May in the prime of the Spring
The wonders of Nature an amazing thing.
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For a day in late April it is very warm some thirty degrees
And warmth in the sunshine and warmth in the breeze
That blow above the green paddocks from the saltwater bay
For late Autumn it is such a very warm day
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Such beautiful weather for April in the far southern Fall
Going by the keepers of weather records the warmest Autumn of all
Since the keeping of weather temperatures began
Near a century of Autumns ago in time quite a span
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Financially i am not well off but how can i say i am poor
When i can visualize the birds singing in the leafy groves of Annagloor
The Spring spreads her green in Duhallow it is a lovely time of year
The song of the orange breasted robin is always a joy for to hear
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The rain coming down from rain clouds gloomy gray
We may not see blue sky or sunshine today
But the rain it is welcome quite welcome indeed
And of more much more of it we are in need
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Home to wallaby and gray roo and weerloo and pale eyed crow
Between the volcanic rocks of Kolor thistles, scutch grass and bracken grow
Down the stony face of Kolor red hot lava it did flow
To the amazement of the first Australians thousands of centuries ago
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On the high ground at Olinda the pied currawong
On the taller trees in small flocks are on song
Birds that on the high woodlands live all through the year
And when you hear them singing you know rain is near
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In the mostly blue and sunny sky a few woolly looking clouds of gray
In sunny Mt Eccles a beautiful April day
Around the flowering trees many brown butterflies
Seem to be dancing on the wooded cliffs above old Lake Surprise
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Back there where the Cails and the Finnow does meet
By the railway track near the Town of Millstreet
Where the rushes grow rank the shy male pheasant crow
And the tiny brown wren singing on the hedgerow
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The weather for April is windy, wet and poor
But the nesting birds singing in old Annagloor
And the old fields resplendent in their Nature's flowers
And the grass lush and green from the recent Spring showers
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When the male snipe is drumming in the moonlit sky
As above his breeding ground the rushy field to and fro he fly
And Nature's silence invaded by the barn owl's harsh cry
Hunting for small prey in the woodland nearby.
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The moon is up the night is calm and peaceful
And countless stars are shining in the sky
The barn owl the shy nocturnal hunter
On silent wings from tree to tree does fly.
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Above the old fields swallows fly to and fro
And amongst the rank rushes the cock pheasant crow
And nesting songbirds are piping in the woods all the day
In Late April by the bracken hills far away,
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A cool enough start to a late Autumn day
But the magpie does sing in the park by the bay
And the dainty black and white magpie larks are singing pee wee
Birds familiar to many and familiar to me
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In the freshening breeze the sweet scent of hay
In the brown countryside such a beautiful day
The bird who does sing every day of the year
The song of the magpie melodious and clear
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I see them in flights of fancy the dappled wild born trout
In pool bed of the river go darting in and out
Of the safety of the water reeds the moment they do spy
Dark shadows on the water of humans passing by
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Every time i look out my window i see her creations there
The beauty created by Mother Nature is around us everywhere
The sun is shining in the blue sky on a pleasant day with a slight breeze
For Autumn such very nice weather of temperatures around twenty degrees
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A blue April Autumn sky without a cloud of gray
The sun shining bright in the park by the bay
The silver bill magpie flutes on a gum tree
And how lovely to hear the song of the pee wee
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On the mossy ditch along the old bohreen
Wildflowers in their thousands are now to be seen
Bluebells and primroses and snowdrops in white
Bloom after the rains in the warm Spring sunlight.
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The leaves on the deciduous trees are turning brown
Yet in the Parks and gardens of Wonthaggi Town
The mynas are singing their songs tell of rain
And the frogs they are calling in the roadside drain.
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Through the blue of the sky big woolly clouds of gray
And the sun shining bright on a beautiful day
And the deciduous trees in their browns and greens of the Fall
Olinda at it's best one of the fairest of all.
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I felled pine trees by Mushera Mountain quite close to two decades ago
In weather that was wet and windy and often cold enough to snow
With Dan Joe Kelleher, Eoin Connors and Gene Buckley I wonder where they might be today
Do they still live in Aubane Valley or from there do they live far away?
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In this Land he does feel feel homesick and alone
And sometimes by email and sometimes by phone
He contacts friends and family that he is okay
And tell of his travels in a Land far away.
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It is such a warm day for April 30 degrees or two or three more
The magpie larks sing in the parkland by the sunlit southern shore
The silver gulls wait by the picnic tables for scraps the picknickers to them do throw
And they squabble and squawk rather loudly as their greed and excitement does grow.
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The sky it is gray o'er the high mountain village and the sun will not shine in Olinda today
And on the high gum trees the currawongs piping they tell us that rain cannot be far away
From the wooded highlands of the Yarra Ranges, the chirpings of rosellas the cawing of the crow
The birds sing and chirp in the changeable weather when rain is approaching they tell us they know.
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