The blossoms of youth have abandoned ship,

No blush of innocence stains her cheek;

Her false teeth often misplace her lips

And all of her joints now ache and creak.

A cap of grey fuzz replaced her tresses,

Some body parts sag like an apron in front;

The young ones object to how she dresses,

Her verbiage tends to be much more blunt –

But oh! the freedom to do as she wants,

The pressures to wow are fallen away;

A joker’s cap rakishly follows her jaunts –

At last she is she, and this she can play!

This is what is left after the peony’s bloom is finished – and I couldn’t help but notice the jaunty joker’s hat!  🙂