Ageing Bella Poem by Francis Duggan

Ageing Bella in the house at the corner
'Some say she's not right in the head'
She swears that men nowadays are faithless
That all of the good men are dead.

My father she says was a good man
And my mum to him was a good wife
It was death that only could part them
They were my great mentors in life.

She says my ex husband he was a ratbag
He came home drunk from the pub every night
Thanks be to goodness that we did not have children
Since with him I had many a fight.

He was nothing but a faithless wife beater
But when he hit me I always hit him back
The best form of defence I found out
Is always to go on the attack.

He finally left me for a younger woman
A timid one that he could control
He was such a horrible person
One who was born without a soul.

Ageing Bella is in her mid fifties
Her once brown hair is now silver gray
The gap in her mouth show two of her upper front teeth are missing
How I look is my own business she say.

Some seem to think she is a bit crazy
This woman who doesn't love any man
She gave as much as she got in her very bad marriage
And as a divorcee she will live out her life span.