On Receiving A Letter From Noreen Poem by Francis Duggan

Her son Denjoe will be thirty four on the eve of St Patrick's Day
And it makes me feel that I am old his mother Noreen say
But Noreen Murphy got it wrong and with her I don't agree
As in a recently taken photograph she looks quite young to me.

She's not changed much since she was young back home in Claraghatlea
When she was Noreen Duggan years ago and far away
Since she rode her bike to Millstreet school more than forty years gone by
But the years have not made her look old 'the camera never lie'.

She looks much the same Noreen to me the Noreen I used to know
The lovely Noreen of Killarney road so many years ago
The Noreen Duggan of Millstreet in North Cork in Ireland
And that she say she now looks old I do not understand.

Her son Denjoe almost thirty four a young man in his prime
And Noreen feels that she is old that she's losing out to time
But in a recently taken photograph in her I see no change
And that she state she now feels old to say the least seems strange.