“What was it all about Alfie?”

Yes, there was a time I didn't think
of a woman’s feeling they were an object
only of my desires.
Then love came as did rejections
and sleepless nights.
What were the tears for when the dance
was over she believed in me.
This infatuation so slows at growing up
for a time I visited prostitutes
much easier that way
but not really it left me empty inside
and living in fear of
Sexually transmitted illnesses
not to forget, the self-loathing.
Of course, slow as a man is in those matters
it took a woman to teach me
that love doesn't grow on trees like pears
but is nursed through the heart
transmitted through the eyes when you meet.

Love is the only things that matter
the rest is a waste of life as blood runs down
a wall in a bombed out city in Syria