The Battle Of Life

By dying for your Country would you not agree
That you will live on in your Country's war history
But of their worries and cares you will not set your Country's women and men free
The battle of life is enough of war for me

The battle of life has left me looking old and gray
It is a war that i must wage every day
To keep living on through times that are tough
The battle of life for me battle enough

One of my aged neighbors by time left old and gray
A surviving hero from a war fought in a Land far away
His best days in life to the forever gone
But with his battle in life he must carry on

At my grave the Last Post will never be played
But from the living memory i will be happy to fade
When my battle in life it has come to an end
And this too will happen why otherwise pretend

Live every day as if it is your last and one day you will be right
And in your battle of life do keep up the good fight
It is a battle i must wage every day
Life is a battle as some do like to say.

Dan Sheahan The Poet From Meelin '1882-1977'

From Duhallow's green countryside his journey south began
Dan Sheahan the poet from Meelin was a legendary man
He wrote the famous poem The Pub Without Beer
That became a song that most rural Australians revere

Famous Australian singer songwriter Gordon Parsons reworked the poem The Pub Without Beer to a song The Pub With No Beer
That for decades has been sung in pubs and clubs to many a lusty cheer
A song that is known and sung Worldwide
Inspire by a poem by a poet from Duhallow's green countryside

Though by birth to Duhallow his bond it was strong
The source of his fame to Australia belong
In the Queensland sunshine he blossomed as a poet
Where his name does live on as one worthy of note

The Pub Without Beer that brought to it's author Dan Sheahan  fame
Made of the Australian country singer Slim Dusty a legendary name
A song in pubs and clubs in towns in Australia that is sung Nationwide
Based on the poem of a poet from Duhallow's countryside 

Longevity is the test of greatness it does seem this way
And the song The Pub With No Beer it is living today
Inspired by a poem written by Dan Sheahan when in his writing prime
Though this is going back many decades in time

Dan Sheahan who could tell of battles lost and won
A hero under the flag of Australia in World war one
With his wife Molly Walsh on their cane farm in Queensland they raised their family
Dan Sheahan in his long life created his own history

Australians may claim The Pub With No Beer for their own
But of the author of the poem it was based on Dan Sheahan it is widely known
That in Meelin in Duhallow he first saw light of day
From sunny Queensland in Australia in miles far away.

In The City To Stay

He is from the wooded hills of the yellow tailed black cockatoo
The birds known to some people as the weerloo
And though from his hometown in the high country he lives far away
His thoughts return to there more than once every day
He left the mountain town since no job for him there
Circumstance cause many young people for to move to live elsewhere
And the nostalgia in him for the hills does remain strong
But in the big city his future belong
A young man near his prime soon to be twenty three
With years of living ahead of him and more places to see
With a six months old daughter with his wife to be
He does take his role of fatherhood seriously
And though he misses his hometown and friends and family in the hills far away
It does seem he is in the city to stay.

On Long Billed Corellas

In large flocks long billed corellas make a lot of noise
But that they are classified by the W W F as vulnerable is not a surprise
As though their flocks may seem large their range is quite small
And as a species they are not plentiful overall
The most plentiful species of parrot in South West Victoria but considered to be rare
And that they are restricted by suitable territory for them to live in conservationists are aware
You may see them in paddocks in South west Victoria as on the roadway you drive
But with any great changes to their environment as a species they may not survive
Though they live in large flocks to live in they have a small range
And most species of birds do not cope well with environmental change
And the smaller the range the more vulnerable the species of bird seem to be
They do become endangered due to restricted territory
Large flocks of long billed corellas i see every day
But due to restricted territory they are vulnerable those who know better say.

The Fate Of The Rose

A thing of great beauty that has gone to decay
On the grass it's petals are crinkled and dry where they lay
As food for ground insects by their thorny mother tree
In time all beauty does fade is how it seems to be

In full bloom a pink beauty of it one can say
But the fate of the rose will be my fate one day
For my life one day it will come to an end
Since time has become my foe it used to be my friend

The last rose of Summer on it's mother tree did not live till the Fall
The fate of the rose it will be for all
Forms of life this includes you and i
As mortals like the rose we are born to die

But Nature it is quite an amazing thing
The thorny rose tree will grow new leaves in Spring
And in Summer brought to bloom by life giving sun showers
She will look resplendent in her lovely pink flowers

It's petals crinkled and dry by it's mother tree lay on the ground
As food for crawling insects that in numbers abound
It bloomed pink and lovely in the Summer sunshine
But the fate of the rose it will also be mine.

They Feel So Superior

They feel so superior of them one can say
The egotistical people i meet every day
Their large egos swollen of self conceit
I never find their sort a pleasure to meet

Though the praises of the town's quiet achievers anyone never does sing
They have the gift of humility and this is a great thing
My respect for such people it only does grow
As they have what is known as the inner glow

One of the town's best places for self promotion is the local bar
A few with big egos there let it be known of how marvelous they are
Of the narcissistic kind every town has it's share
It is a bit sad to think that their kind are not rare

Leave it to others to praise you from self praise abstain
And though some will tell you out of being humble the humble never stand for to gain
The one with humility does not have a big ego to feed
And of more of these sort of people the Human World is in need

Of egotistical people i do know of a few
And in saying the World is not better for them living in it is not saying anything that is new
They never do bring any joy to my day
And to meet them i never go out of my way.

Jerry Corkery

Jerry Corkery lived in Coomlogane all of his life
And there he raised his children with Joan Cahill his wife
In St Mary's by Cashman's Hill his last remains now lay
He must have been in his eighties when he passed away

In his prime one of the strongest and hardest working in the countryside of Millstreet
His old home not far from where the rivers do meet
He was one well liked and to many was known
And in his death Millstreet has lost one of it's own

An honorable fellow for to give him his due
I only can say of the man what is true
A good family man and to many a good friend
So sad to learn his life's journey has come to an end

He will be missed from Millstreet Parish and Town
To live as a good person his claim to renown
The World was better for him living in it of him one can say
But for all of us there is a last night and day

Though in the flesh in Millstreet never more to be seen
In all who knew him good memories of him will remain evergreen
From life for us all there is a final release
The good man Jerry Corkery may he now rest in peace.