Francis Duggan Poems

On the grassy mound on the grave in the backyard the windblown wildflowers nod and sway
Where Sam the faithful farm dog at rest forever lay
By the old rusted tin machinery shed his bones are in decay
From Jimmy his beloved master's house some twenty metres away.
...

Greg a man of medium height and build is in his late sixties with the silver of time in his hair
In the early sixties he left his old Hometown in England for to experience life in the big World out there
He never did return to Scunthorpe or again set foot on his old Homeland shore
He grows old in this southern Country where one day his bones will rest forever more.
...

I should have said sorry to Matthew
And I should have kissed Jelna goodbye
And I should have asked Joan out to dinner
Instead I'm left to wonder why
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One might say a fine citizen though his behaviour at times seems odd
He hates the next door neighbour because he worships a different God
Though I would have thought that a true God would embrace all of Humanity
The Gods that so many believe in thrive only in disharmony.
...

This sunny Southern Land of the Dreamtime the home of wallaby and kangaroo
Of possum, koala and wombat, the pink and gray, the white and the black cockatoo,
The echidna known to some as the spiny anteater and the platypus strange creatures these two
The dingos the wild red dogs of the Outback in small packs their prey they pursue.
...

Whoever made such a statement only the good die young
Only the good are remembered and their praises will be sung
Still only the living are important and advice here for every ageing woman and man
Do not regret that you had not died young you live for as long as you can.
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'Tis been a while since he married Julia Mary Brosnan over thirty Summers ago
Though his children are in their late twenties or early thirties them I cannot profess that I know
John Joe Sullivan or the Yank as some called him since he lived for awhile in the U S of A
He is gone from his old home in Coolinarne and with the dead of Millstreet he now lay.
...

Never more in the Bush Bar we'll see Denny Murphy enjoying his saturday evening till late
A clever and a well travelled fellow to many he was a good mate
And Shanaknuck for his passing the poorer his equals not seen every day
He is now with the departed of Millstreet and his bones at rest forever lay.
...

We hear of the sisterhood and brotherhood amongst the Human Family
But each of us are on our own or so 'twould seem to me
Even the most generous of people are self centred the main emphasis is on I
But all of our lives are not dissimilar we breathe, sleep, drink, eat, work and live and die.
...

O'er the quiet pool where the moorhen dwell the shades of night are falling
And in the field beside the hill the hunting fox is calling
On bare branches new leaves begin to bud on trees bare since December
The Seasons come and the Seasons go but the past I still remember.
...