Francis Duggan Winter Poems

A beautiful day in Winter with warmth in the sunlight
And the clouds in the blue sky so woolly like and white
And the white backed magpie piping on high branch of tall pine tree
A great day for to be alive and life's okay with me.
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In the sunny blue sky just a few clouds of gray
On June the twenty first the southern year's shortest day
For the southern Winter solstice a forecast high of fifteen degrees
A pleasant day out of doors of scarcely any breeze
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The elms stand naked their brown leaves on the ground
On the gravel path by the winds scattered around
The overnight frost has left the park looking gray
Just after daybreak on a cold Winter's day.
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The flute like notes of the grey shrike thrush so pleasant to hear
He must know the first day of Spring it is near
For the last week of Winter this is a nice day
The Goddess of Spring less than a week away
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The weather cold and overcast in the middle of July
And cold jack frost blows with his chilly breath across the Winter sky
And in Kyneton, Trentham and Daylesford they have had a fall of snow
And the temperatures at zero and the weather glass is low
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A sunny saturday morning in August so good to be alive
A nice day for one with a car to go on a rural drive
In late Winter in coastal Victoria parks and paddocks look so green
And there is natural beauty in abundance to be seen
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A nice sunny July day in this place in the far south
Surrounded by natural beauty for to write about
Overlooking the ocean far as the eyes can see
On a day like today such a nice place to be
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The magpie larks call in the park by the bay
For June and early Winter such a beautiful day
And the familiar music so flute like and clear
Of the Aussie magpies who sing every day of the year
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A bank holiday monday morning in the old country town
Newly fallen dry leaves of yellow and brown
By the chilly winds blown along the sidewalks of the quiet street
Before Nature's cold breath they are forced to retreat
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The last brown or yellow leaves from the deciduous trees fall
And in the sporadic sunshine not any warmth at all
And on the main street few cars driven up and down
On a chilly day in June in a southern town
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The rain drizzling down from a sunless gray sky
On a typical Winter's day of the southern July
And yet the flute like notes are quite pleasant to hear
Of the magpie who sings every day of the year
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The sun behind gray rain clouds is hidden away
In coastal south west Victoria a wet and windy day
June that began with sunshine ending wet, windy and gray
Above average rainfall in June following a dry and sunny May
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Into the last month of Winter and the wattles cloaked in yellow flowers in bloom
And pink flowers on the camellias and yellow flowers on the broom
And all through the night the white backed magpies sing
On the third week of August coming up to the Spring
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All seems so dark under a moonless sky
And the repetitive sound of the nocturnal boobook's cry
Echo in the quietness of the night
On the tall gum trees on the wooded height
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A sunny day in Winter in the coastal city with the slightest chill of Winter in the breeze
The pale eyed ravens in the parkland cawing and none could mistake the song of the pee wees
So good to be out of doors on such nice Winter weather just five weeks from the first day of the Spring
For to enjoy the sights and sounds of Nature such joy that Nature to so many bring
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Mid Winter the sun shines between the brief showers
And the flowering gums look pretty in their pink flowers
And crows, straw necked ibis, starlings, magpies and magpie lark
Are searching for food in the deserted park
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The freshening breeze from the ocean in it has a slight cool sting
On the fourth day of June three months from the first of the calendar Spring
The rain from the gray sky is drizzling down
On the green countryside five kilometers out of the town
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It is windy and raining the sky overcast and gray
And the cattle in farmyard sheds bellowing for silage or hay
The birds far too cold and hungry for to chirp and sing
In Winter in Ireland no signs of the Spring
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Above the coastal paddocks on this sunny August day
A freshening breeze blowing up from Gormans Bay
For the Moyne Shire a pleasant Winter day of a weather temperature high of sixteen
And the countryside looking quite healthy and green
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He calls out peter peter in the wood beyond the town
The brown flycatcher nicknamed jacky winter a stranger to bird renown
And for the reason for his nickname in truth i cannot say
His kind distinctive in their behaviour do live in their own way
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A dark, cold and wet night in Winter in old Koroit Town
And on the sidewalks of Commercial Road few do walk up and down
But in Mickey Bourke's pub there is laughter and cheer
Amongst the patrons who enjoy their pub banter and beer
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When the windblown rain is drizzling from the sky
The Camellias bloom in Winter in July
In the front gardens of the coastal town
As the rain from the gray sky is drizzling down
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On the galvanize roofs the pattering of the rain
And the breeding frogs sing in the pond and the drain
Some memories do linger with me they remain
Of a typical Winter's night in Castlemaine
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The first day of June and the calendar Winter in the Moyne Shire in Victoria South West
The sun shining bright and Nature in her green best
In the clear and blue sky just a few clouds of gray
For Winter it is such a beautiful day
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It is mid Winter now in Duhallow the weather cold enough to snow
And from the bleak hills of the Boggeragh the chill winds of January blow
And swollen by streams and smaller rivers the Blackwater in flood waters of brown
Is raging bank high in the old fields in the flat country towards Mallow Town
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On Winter nights in the old Country the wind did howl in the trees
In chilly and unpredictable weather of zero or under degrees
In the living room by the open fire grate the burning peat kept out the cold
We sat listening to the ageing story tellers relating their stories of old
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It has rained all through the night and for most of the day
And the farmers for more rain they do even pray
For lots of more rain as they look to the sky
For the Summer and Autumn were warm and dry.
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In the central Victoria Town of Castlemaine
The currawongs call in the wind and the rain
And this Countryside with lots and lots of rain could do
Much more than heavy showers for an hour or two.
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In the cold winds of Winter she stands thorny and bare
In Summer large beautiful red flowers she did wear
The Rose tree of Winter not a pretty sight
At a time of year with litle warmth in the sunlight,
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A cold day in early Winter ten weeks from the Spring
The silvery billed magpie the only bird who bothers to sing
But he will sing better as Spring days draw near
In late Winter at night him one often does hear,
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The night it is chilly the sky it is dark
And the spur winged plover he calls in the park
As above his breeding territory he fly
The sound of aggression is in his wild cry
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The first day of Winter and the rain is bucketing down
On the galvanize roofs of the old Border Town
And the heavy wind howls in the Town parkland trees
And a temperature high of just 13 degrees
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The cattle in the farm shed bellowing for silage or hay
On a cold and wet dawn by the hills far away
The silent fields cloaked in the fog damp and gray
On a wintery start to a December day,
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A Winter's day in Claraghatlea and a chill in the breeze
And the old fields are gray from the overnight freeze
And droplets of water dripping off of the bare trees
In temperatures as low as zero degrees
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On the tall mountain ash trees from here far away
The white cockatoos are squawking in Selby today
And the yellow eyed pied currawong are singing again
Some refer to them as the dark birds of rain.
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The Araglen bank high to the Blackwater flow
And old Clara is wearing his white hat of snow
And the redwings are chirping on the bare hedgerow
And through fields of Duhallow the Wintery winds blow.
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I do love quiet places far from the noisy street
Where the sea going river and lesser creek meet
Where butcherbird in his cloak of brown and gray
Pipe his bubbling notes in the quiet Rural day
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Today a back to Winter day a chill is in the breeze
In early Spring in Victoria we do get days of under fifteen degrees
Today between the heavy showers a brief burst of sunshine
Yet compared to the heavy rains of yesterday today seems even fine.
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The sun is out and shining though a chill is in the air
And in the depths of Winter a morning such as this is rare
The traffic on the Freeway I hear it buzzing by
Such a noisy intrusion few if any enjoy.
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The wattle wears her cloak of flowers so lovely bright and yellow
But in the paddocks there's no grass and for hay the cattle bellow
It has been frosty over night and the ground with frost is hoary
And the only beauty I can see is the wattle in her glory.
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How can one describe dear Jose she's the pride of Winter Street
And she's honest and she's lovable and untainted by conceit
And foremost she's real lady kindhearted and sane of mind
And she truly is good advert to the race of Womankind.
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On this the third day of Winter the sun it brightly shine
And the yellow tailed black cockatoos on the monterey pine
Grasp the pine cones with their powerful claws and shred them for the seed
And dropp the shredded cones to earth when they have had their feed.
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The farmer said 'twill rain again for sure
And dykes and drains were full in Annagloor
And river gray to brown was flowing bank high
And northern winds howled in the wintery sky.
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The sun doesn't shine by day and few birds in song
And the nights are dark and wet and cold and long
And like the weather the clouds of my heart gray
And Spring at least almost three months away.
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The currawongs calling on the wooded hillside and water keeps on dripping from the trees
And it is a day of sleety showers and drizzle and signs of more rain in the freshening breeze
The sun behind heavy cloud cover hidden and the sky is looking overcast and gray
And on the wooded hills south east of Melbourne it is a typical mid Winter's day.
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The ash tree stand forlorn and bare
In the cold winter night air
Without the glossy green array
That was his on summer day.
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The cold winds howl in the woodlands and the crow like pied currawongs
Sing and whistle on the high gums they have been piping all day long
And when the currawongs are singing rain is never far away
You can bank on rain tomorrow if it doesn't rain today.
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