Francis Duggan Poems

Mt Abrupt, Mt Sturgeon and Piccanniny like sentinels looking lovingly down
On the woods and on the brown landscape on all sides of old Dunkeld Town
The gateway to the Geriwerd ranges that has a history of it's own
Around the Indigenous tribes who once lived here a legend of history has grown,
...

Too late to regret what has happened one friend lost another friend won
The past has gone live for the present tis too hard to undo what is done
You can help for to shape your future but you never can change the past
And though you feel quite despondent at present this mood like all moods will not last
...

I know life for many not easy and i know life it can be unfair
But you are not alone in your worries most people have some cross to bear
Not everyone are born to billionaire parents and destined the good life to enjoy
And millions of children are hungry and homeless life's hard for the poor girl and boy.
...

A brush tail possum has died in the ceiling the strong scent of death and decay
Has been wafting down through the ceiling boards for many the night and the day
The smell will remain for a few weeks in time it will soon fade away
But the bones of the deceased marsupial in the ceiling where he or she died will lay
...

She is known as The Wildflower Woman her hair is silvery gray
And in the Town Park i see her picking wildflowers every day
Of the Spring and the Summer she has a flower addiction one might say
And those who have known her for years say she has always been this way,
...

I wonder does he still train greyhounds a few decades ago
When i lived in Duhallow he was one i did know
And at the old Cork track his greyhounds won many a race
Though win or lose he never had a sad face.
...

Tomorrow for you may be better if luck is not with you today
The big win at the pokies or lotto from you may not be far away
We all have our good and not so good days that's life one would have to suppose
And money and greed are companions and because of them friends become foes
...

A long way from here to Duhallow from Millstreet, Kanturk and Banteer
And a long way from Cullen and Kiskeam and Newmarket is distant from here,
Knocknagree on the Cork-Kerry border on the high roadway up from Rathmore
And Ballydaly, Dromtarriffe and Rathcoole are far north of this far southern shore,
...

The Wannon river has never been so low
Through the bare and dry paddocks at a trickle it does flow
The aged farmer says I've never known it so dry
And the sun every day burning in the blue sky.
...

So many poor people in Iraq have died
A principle basic freedom to them has been denied
To live for to die in an natural way
For the mistakes of others with their lives they did pay
...