I Only Have Memories

 It was my yearn for travel that took me away

From the place where i first looked on the lamp of day

Claraghatlea in Duhallow near the Town of Millstreet

In the green countryside where the waterways meet

It is true about time that it does not stand still

Perhaps i will never again climb Clara's Hill

Or hear the birds sing on an April sundown

In a leafy grove just west of Millstreet Town

Or on a Summer evening by old River Finnow

To her calf hear the soft lowing of a cow

And above the bogland so pleasant to hear

The flute like song of the curlew melodious and clear

And as the shades of darkness are crossing the sky

The shy male snipe high above the rushes does fly

And with his wings and tail makes a quick drumming sound

As above his breeding territory he flies around and around

In fancy i can hear the Claramore Rill 

With a silver tongue that is never still

Babbling towards the river in fields of Claraghatlea

At the start of it's long journey towards the sea far away

Here in this place of emu, koala and wallaby and grey kangaroo

And echidna and long billed corella and yellow tailed black cockatoo

Of Nature i learn something new every day

We never stop learning in truth one can say

Far south of where i went to primary school

In the coastal Moyne Shire between the Town of  Koroit and city of Warrnambool

Time that ages all things has left it's mark on me

And i only have memories of the what used to be.