January In Sliabh Luachra And Duhallow

Swollen from heavy rain in Sliabh Luachra and Duhallow
The river Blackwater it's banks overflow
And flood the countryside for kilometers around
The waterlogged fields on flood waters abound

The howling of the gales in the bare trees one often does hear
In January in Sliabh Luachra and Duhallow a cold and wet time of year
The weather temperatures often at the point of freeze
Can plummet to well below zero degrees

The mornings quite cold the frosted fields often gray
Above the low rain clouds the sun hidden away
The cattle in farm sheds bellow for silage or hay
So many cold and wet days and nights till the birth of the May

Through the years of absence the memories remain
of storms and snow, frost and flooding rain
And so many weeks 'til the first breath of Spring
When the wild born nesting birds will chirp and sing

Above the fields of the rook and the silver back crow
From the Boggeragh Ranges the cold winds do blow
And though the weather is cold and the sky seldom clear
Every grey dawn to the Spring brings us near.

Storm Frank

Storm Frank to Britain and Ireland may have come and gone
But the financial cost of the damage he has caused for years will linger on
To individuals in flood and storm damage the worst seen for years
Leaving many for to count their losses in tears
Storm Frank caused huge damage his affects felt far and wide
In towns, villages and cities and in the countryside
When Nature grows angry she is a destructive force
And causes damage to every obstacle that is in her course
Storm Frank he may well have blown himself tame
But you cannot sue Nature for the damage that she is for to blame
The force that is capable of creating a beautiful flower
Is also the World's number one super power
And when Nature grows angry you better watch out
The damage caused by Storm Frank of this leaves none in doubt.

Since You Have Never Harmed Anyone

Since you have never harmed anyone in any way
Why worry what others of you do say
Since a few negative people live in every village, city and town
And do derive pleasure on verbally putting good living people down
Since of you they do not broadcast a harmful lie
What they say of you should not haunt you till the day you do die
If you react to their negative comments of you satisfaction they will only gain
Why some people find pleasure on verbally putting down others beyond one like me to explain
Playing their mind games with them you for one does not need
Leave it to them for to plant their own bad karma seed
Tomorrow it will not be of you that they will have unkind things to say
They will find someone else for to pick on since people like them are this way
You never harm anyone so any heed why do you pay
To the few small minded people who unkind things of you say.

It Is The Time Of Year

I have been wished a happy new year a few times today
And the same to you in return i did say
Doubtless nice words are always quite nice for to hear
For warm goodwill greetings it is the time of year
In villages, towns and cities this evening close to and after midnight
Excitement and joy will have reached a new height
And even strangers will hug and shake hands when they meet
In every crowded town mall and on every street
Moments of sheer joy in our lifetimes are few
When the strains of Auld lang Syne does ring in the new
The old year it is dying at midnight it will be dead
And hope springs eternal for better days ahead
The words happy new year always happy to hear
For hope springs eternal in a brand new year.

New Year's Eve 2015 In the Moyne Shire

It is warm in the Moyne Shire near coastal Warrnambool
In the shade of the tall trees the cattle crowd to keep cool
A weather temperature high for the day of thirty five degrees
And even a humid warmth in the strong coastal breeze
Blowing uphill across the brown paddocks from Gormans Bay
In the early evening of the eve of New Year's Day
For many weeks El Nino the one who thrives on drought
In the coastal countryside out and about
Sucking every drop of moisture out of the dry ground
The paddocks brown, bare and dry in the coastal countryside around
The south western Victoria's coastal City of greater Warrnambool
Where the weather temperatures than this is often far more cool
And the lowing of a cow the only sound i do hear
On the very last evening of the old year.

If You Cannot Love Yourself

If you cannot love yourself you cannot love others is a saying that happens for to be true
And if you cannot give love it does follow that love will not become your due
But life it is meant to be this way if you cannot give do not expect to receive
A good enough philosophy for living and one on which i do believe
Some people are so kind and helpful they do possess the inner glow
A few of their sort though not many i do feel quite lucky for to know
Though sometimes self love can become narcissistic i know of a few who are this way
And meeting their sort not a pleasure they never help for to make my day
The topic of their conversation is always me, myself and i
Theirs is a self love that is way over the top to true self love they give the lie
But we need some self love to love others at least this is how it seems to be
I cannot hope to love others if i do not know how to love me
If you cannot love yourself you cannot love others as a truism does remain
And why this is ask one with more knowledge since it is beyond me to explain.

Molly Murphy

As a child and a teenager she would have heard the male snipe on a Spring night
Under the cloak of darkness in his courtship flight
With his tail feathers make a drumming sound
As above his breeding territory he flies around and around
But her future in life was to be lived elsewhere
And as a young woman Molly Murphy left Shanaknuck for the big World out there
Like many in life she had her happy times and sad
And like most she learned to cope with the good and the bad
But not far from Shanaknuck where she knew of laughter and shed her first tears
In Mallow she did live out her twilight years
Not far from Shanaknuck where she first looked on the lamp of day
By Cashman's Hill in St Mary's Molly Murphy's last remains lay
For all of us from life a final release
And four kilometers from her first home may she rest in peace.