‘Why would I even look at you?’
She said, when I made my bid,
She must have been all of thirty four,
While I was just a kid.
‘I only have eyes for you,’ I said,
‘That’s just the way that it is,
I lie awake in my bed at night
And dream of just one kiss.’

Her hands had fluttered, waved me away,
She was flattered, nevertheless,
I knew, because the way that she turned
Flared out the hem of her dress,
Her legs were fine, and smooth and strong
With shape to her calves and thighs,
I stared at them, though I knew it wrong,
They were candy for my eyes.

‘You’re far too young for the likes of me,’
She said, a gleam in her eye,
‘You’re half my age, you’re seventeen
So I’ll have to say goodbye.’
‘I never think about age,’ I said,
‘I think about looks and grace,
And you have plenty of both,’ I said,
‘You have a beautiful face.’

She laughed then, showing her gleaming teeth
And the dimple in each cheek,
Her lips were crimson, egging me on
I could have stared at her for a week.
‘You do go on,’ were the words she said
But her cheeks began to flush,
While I was thinking of her in bed,
And that brought a sudden hush.

‘I really think you are serious,’
She said, as if in surprise,
‘Never more sure and certain,’ then
I caught the look in her eyes.
‘Maybe if you were twenty-one,
I might just give it a whirl,’
‘I’m old enough and I’m full of love,
To me, you’re only a girl.’

I reached on out and I held her hand,
The palm of her hand was wet,
I sensed that here was the promised land
I might be successful yet.
And then in a moment’s madness she
Had raised her face to my lips,
And heaven opened before me as
She gave me just one kiss.

David Lewis Paget