I was a boy of dreams and songs
And hopes of fine tomorrows
Before someone robbed my joys
And left me all this sorrow.
I believed in people and trust
And had it all taken away from me
And it was all done with lies
That spoke to me so lovingly.
The boy turned into a man
In just that one sad evening
When expectations became
The frost of no longer believing.
There were words and scowling
But mostly on my own part
Because it was obvious then
There was no love in your heart.
How could I know back then
That such people existed?
I would have had a day of fun
And everything else resisted.
I would have looked at you
As a face on a passing train
And never cared if either of us
Ever saw each other again.
But you came to me with words
All polished as smooth as stone
And convinced me, in my youth,
That they were for me alone.
I don’t pretend to understand
How people can be so cruel.
I just see now how my innocence
Was the perfect kind of fuel.
The flame that I felt burning
Was some kind of fantasy
That you wove just for fun
With no relation to reality.
But such is life, I move on
And learn to take my time
To see who is a criminal
And whose care is genuine.
love, innocence, betrayal, gigolos, gadabout, awakening, poetry, Kincaid