hook, line, and sinker

hook, line, and sinker

we arranged to meet

for a drink - as friends -

in her favourite local bar

 

‘it’s soigné and the beer is good’  

 

as I walked her home

(dangers lurking everywhere)

her deftly plaited woven hair

wafted woody sandalwood

 

in a pool of darkness

between two lamps’ light

she kissed me

dipped her eyes and whispered,

 

‘darling, I love you…’  

 

I looked into her eyes

I swam in her eyes

I drowned in her eyes…

 

I was hooked

 

nobody, outside coital ecstasy,

had ever said that to me,

sincerely,

 

this beauty loved me?

 

I was hooked  

 

we parted at the footpath’s end

and arranged to meet again  

 

over time our lusting flourished,

 

nights in Filey b&bs,

knee-trembling in alleyways,

or bushes off the Cleveland Way

 

nowhere was out of bounds

for her, for me  

 

she said I was her ‘sunny day’

but that was ‘strictly entre-nous’

nobody must ever know,

 

‘there was nothing to be gained’

 

as fast as it flared

my allure faded

she sauntered off searching

for sunshine elsewhere,

 

taking a slice of my heart with her

 

unlike long-married couples,

conjoined souls - one dies,

the other soon after

 

life is dire for the young

with half a heart, 

denied easy passing - the release

the gentle ‘good night’ brings  

 

the wages of sin ain’t death ,

but a torment infinitely worse -

 

long life with an unquenchable thirst.