The Lovely Rose Of Mallow Poem by Francis Duggan

With shoulder length hair of a light chestnut brown
The last time i saw her was in Mallow Town
The skies of North Cork were overcast and gray
But her beautiful smile brought sunlight to my day.

Her eyes were as blue as the November sloe
The one from the land where the Blackwater flow
In her early twenties and close to her prime
Is she wearing well with the passing of time?

Her suitors in numbers in those days did grow
The lovely Rose of Mallow two decades ago
A beautiful face with a beautiful smile
Down to earth, unconceited and free of guile.

One that i remember but may not see again
Did she marry, bear children and in Mallow remain
Or from her Hometown does she live far away
And with hair dyes and tints does she cover her gray?

She lived in the Town where the Blackwater flow
The lovely Rose of Mallow two decades ago
But on each one of us there is a use by date
And the clock it ticks on and for none time does wait.