We Only Have Memories Poem by Francis Duggan

My working life varied worked at this and that
Felled pine trees near Mushera lay pipes near Ballarat
Worked on travel towers in the Yarra Ranges trimming tall trees
In all sorts of weather of varying degrees

Just rough laboring jobs with work hardened men
But i was much younger, fitter and stronger back then
Since i am going back in time to a few decades ago
And time as we know eventually becomes everyone's foe

The years have left me looking older, balder and gray
And those sort of jobs would be too hard for me today
Men in their mid to late sixties not physically what they used to be
And what is for them is no different for me

We only have memories of years now long gone
But the past gone forever and life does go on
And perhaps the men that i worked with often think back on time
When they were younger and stronger and fitter and in their life's prime.