My Lovely Rose Of Clare Poem by Francis Duggan

I still remember her I do with blue eyes and dark hair
And I wonder where she might be today my lovely Rose of Clare
Is she still living in New York or back in her Hometown?
In that County in west Munster of cultural renown.

In the Redmill ballroom on saturday night we waltzed around the floor
But that's going back a long, long time thirty five years or more
And I was a teenager then in the U.S.of A
And Homesick for Millstreet County Cork more than five thousand miles away.

My dark haired Theresa my rose of Clare she came into my life
And though I fell in love with her she'd never be my wife
I only love you as a friend I often heard her say
Yet I can't help but wonder still where she might be today?

Did she remain as a single person and a life career pursue
Or did she marry and mother children as many women do
And does she wear hair dyes and makeup to hide signs of decay?
The young women of my younger years like me have known a better day.

And though she never whispered in my ear sweet words like I love you
We often danced in the Redmill till the small hours of two
One of the loves of my young life and than her none so fair
And in my memory she remains as my lovely Rose of Clare.