The Roads Of Life

Of course I know that the past is gone forever
But in the past the seeds of our lives are sown
And I still have memories of a childhood close to Nature
And from those good memories happiness has grown.

The roads of life for most are never easy
The hilly roads of life wind up and down
And I have known the good and the not so good days
Since I left Claraghatlea near Millstreet Town.

To visualize to most people comes easy
The dippers scratchy notes I still can hear
They always pipe in rill and stream and river
In changing weather or when rain is near.

The rushy fields of Duhallow looking green now
As green as they have ever looked before
And wildflowers blooming on the grassy margins
By the roadway out of Millstreet towards Rathmore.

The roads of life have led me to Australia
To the vast land of emu and kangaroo
I wake to the laughter of the kookaburra
And the harsh cries of the white cockatoo.

On the high gums the Aussie magpie fluting
His song once heard you never can mistake
And grey butcherbird one of the first to carol
In the faint light minutes before daybreak.

I went to see the world beyond Duhallow
And from Clara mountain I live far away
But I can visualize like all of the others
And I see the fields of Millstreet every day.