Cocky! Poem by Ian Bowen

During the outbreak
of my youth,
when hormones danced
and sometimes skipped,
I raged in the half dark,
fumbled with fun
in forbidden corners,
lived my days as if my last,
kept my secrets hard and fast

Authority played no part
in my selfish ways
as I walked white-stick blind
in my young summer vaults of gold.
My bemused, white shadow
followed like a princely fool,
this enemy of the sensible rule.

I was the best man for miles,
captured many hearts
with dimpled smiles.
Changed love into lust
with snarling sneers
as I suffered the fever
of those cocky years.