I am a mature woman
Who has seen
Nearly fifty-four summers
Come and go.
Admittedly, I am,
To say the least,
Neurotic,
With some serious issues
Where the opposite sex
Is concerned.
I've had but one date,
A disastrous blind one
Nearly thirty-five years ago,
And countless heartbreaks
That eventually forced me
To place myself firmly
"On the shelf."
I've tried so hard
To deny the wants and needs
That come with having
A normally functioning
Female body,
And a very human heart.
I smugly thought
I had succeeded,
Sitting up there
On my shelf,
Watching my friends
Fall in and out of love,
Have their babies,
And struggle to bring
Those babies up
While working their ***es off
Just to make ends meet.
I was the supreme survivor,
I had risen above
The emotional squalor
Begat by
Raging hormones
And traitorous hearts.
I didn't need anyone
To make my life complete.
I was doing just fine
All by myself.

Or so I thought.

Then, one day,
You drove into my life
With your eyes brimming
With warmth and laughter,
And, to my dismay,
A trifecta of temptations:
A compassionate heart,
A generous spirit,
And stirring masculine virility.

Too late I realized
What a threat you are
To this sterile peace
I had jealously guarded
For so long,
But I wasn't interested
In defending myself.
Instead,
I cautiously allowed you
To come closer,
And closer still,
As I learned more and more
About you:
Your hopes and dreams,
Your views and opinions
Your wonderful, slightly warped,
Sense of humor, and
Your....age?

Suddenly my shelf has morphed
Into a rock ledge
And I, poised to leap,
Am suddenly a....
(O! The shame of it!)
Cougar!