A Girl Before

don’t get your hopes up, she warned me from the start • the only thing I had left to give her was my heart • I had never given in to complete devotion • though in my forties I had yet to give love a second notion

she told me she always knew by the look in my eyes • that every time I saw her I felt I had just won first prize • in those days I had to sleep in a cold dark basement room • I still let my hopes get up much too high too soon

every time I saw her I’d pick her up and spin • I know one day too soon I’ll have to take it on the chin •

 12/2023