A Castlemaine Ex Rose Poem by Francis Duggan

Back in the mid nineteen eighties before she had children and her hair was light brown
She was the young young Rose of old Castlemaine Town
Now a grandmother in her early fifties she lives in a flat on her own
And her better days in life she is one who surely has known

Ten years ago her ex husband left her for one far younger in years
And for lost love that caused her much love-ache she has shed the last of her tears
He left her some men are unfaithful though to him she was a good wife
Though she has had a few brief affairs since then she now does not have a man in her life

The brown haired beauty in her twenties with blond hair dye covers her gray
Like many the years on her telling she has known of a far better day
In weight she has gained more than ten kilos since she was in her life's prime
But youth and beauty to age always lose out and no turning back the hands of time

She was a fair Rose of Castlemaine going back a few decades ago
But time that is known to rust iron it does seem has become her foe
Her ex husband the father of her two daughters is living in Queensland somewhere
With one young enough to be his daughter enjoying life in the big World out there.