Do not take for granted the beating of a young

Boy’s heart, the nowhere land that is sixteen,

Fraught with uncertainty as he first notices

A flash of auburn hair, the young girl who

Pushes it carelessly from dark brown eyes

With one shapely hand as she hurriedly

Brushes by on her way to other places.

The first time is forever, always remembered,

A sea change of terrible proportions that will haunt

Him in the watches of long summer nights as he creates

Heroic deeds to win her heart, and perhaps a kiss, this

Restless boy who rides moonbeams of daring-do’s and

Clever lines designed to make her notice him while knowing

Full well he’ll never have the courage to speak them.

Take not lightly the confusion that is sixteen in this boy,

Whose shyness mocks him in its ability to turn those

Twilight speeches into nothing more than a nervous

Smile as he looks her way, a mumbled hello as he

Passes her locker on his way to lunch without a

Second glance, feeling clumsy, awkward, much

Too aware of flaws that may not even exist.

The first time is forever, never forgotten, when the boy

That was becomes the man who is, those childhood desires

Only half remembered in the light of day, but never completely

Lost when the moon rides high the watches of the night and he

Lies sleepless in a narrow bed shared by no one, surrounded

By starlit memories of dark watchful eyes hidden beneath

A young girls careless auburn hair.

END

“First Time Forever”