The Finlander Poem by Francis Duggan

He is travelling and living far south of his northern Hometown
The roads of the brown country he travels up and down
From the Land of the mighty elk and the reindeer
The lust of the wander has lured him to here

A journey of twelve thousand miles maybe more
From northern Finland to Australia southern shore
He has worked on building sites and as a jackeroo
For to earn his living hard work he is prepared to do

In his Finnish accent in broken English he say
Australia too hot for me here me won't stay
He will soon be on the plane for his home far away
He expects to be there for the birth of the May.

Tall and blond and in his mid twenties and in his life's prime
One might say on his side he has heaps of time
But time keeps on ticking and ticking on fast
And every day we live is one nearer to our last.

In two months he will go home and settle in life
And his young love in Finland will become his wife
He has spent a year in Australia but here he won't grow old
He'd much prefer Finland where the weather is cold.