The Silver Haired Old Fellow Said To Me

'The far off fields are green' that saying I can recall
I first heard it when I was knee high tall
The silver haired old fellow said to me
The fields are greener beyond Knocknagree.

But he added when I say that I only mean
That distant places not as they might seem
Many of my childhood friends live far beyond the sea
But are they any better off than me?

I've never yearned for the bright lights of New York
Nor been beyond east Kerry or north Cork
My children and their children living near
And I have always felt so happy here.

The far off hills are green or so they say
But some have travelled half a world away
And seen green fields and wildflowers blooming there
Though poverty around them everywhere.

And in distant towns they grew gray haired and old
And on distant streets they found no pots of gold
And from their life experiences they grew to be aware
That not everyone can become a millionaire.

The far off hills are green or so they say
And many from their homeland live away
But they don't find the sidewalks paved with gold
And in foreign towns they wither and grow old.