A Fading Rose Poem by Francis Duggan

Fifteen years ago the prettiest in the old town
But with dark brown hair dye she now cloaks her gray
The passing years has stripped her of some of her beauty
A fading rose that's life as some do say.

In her early forties with a teenage son and daughter
In her motherhood she has put on some weight
Not that long ago she was a real head turner
But time for anyone does never seem to wait.

Two years ago her husband left her for a younger woman
Though to him she was a devoted wife
And though his betrayal did leave her heavy hearted
She now has grown to love her single life.

To satisfy some of her needs she has a divorced male friend
Not a live in lover but one she sometimes meet
For dinner and an hour of sex at his house
Of her casual affair she does feel quite discreet.

A fading rose now in her early forties
She looked quite lovely fifteen years ago
She looks a little plumper now than she was in her twenties
The years on her now beginning to show.