Lovetime And Lovelies Poem by gershon hepner

By the time that you have sworn
you’re hers, and sighing as you shiver,
and she has vowed the same, don’t scorn
her oath when broken, but forgive her,
to make sure she reciprocates,
for every lover’s oath is broken.
Lovetime has pits like plums and dates,
expiring like a subway token
that takes you through the turnstile for
a day, or for a month perhaps,
until it closes like a door
to tunnels where there are no maps.

Nobody uses maps when they’re
in love, and nobody can get
you out of tunnels where the air
is thin, but you should not forget
that at all tunnels’ end there’s light,
and lovetime always will return.
You’re wasting time when you indict
the lovelies that you’ve heard and spurn.

Maureen Dowd, in “What’s a Modern Girl to Do? ” in the NYT Magazine, October 30,2005, quotes Dorothy Parker:

By the time you swear you’re his,
Shivering and sighing,
And he vows his passion is––
Lady, make a note of this:
One of you is lying.

I added the last eight lines in 12/25/09

© 2005 Gershon Hepner 10/30/05,12/25/09