-- Love in an Ice Cream Parlor Window --

John Herlihy

He sat outside and watched her, in love too much;

She sat inside making ice cream cones, being watched.

Ripe peach of a girl in a window, he felt comfortable;

With his vacant eyes, silly grin, she felt uncomfortable.

He rode on his red bicycle from a great distance afar;

No doubt, she was fetching, elusive as a distant star.

Such love, this must be love, the burning, the wanting;

While she as cool as ice cream, his presence taunting.

She could feel love’s attention, the love itself unreal;

He knew nothing about her, only her heart to steal.

No matter in the slightest what she thought of him;

He was but blinded and consumed by beauty’s whim.

Later in life, she remembered such love as too much;

When she came to realize true love is never enough.

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(c) John Herlihy 28 April 2020