Our First Date Poem by Sarita Brown

We met when I was 12,
you might say I was a child bride.

he was not very attractive when he was around his
family,
something about their white collar ways,
their preoccupation with money matters'
and pew styles
seemed to stifle him.
And even though they kept saying his
name, somehow I got the impression
that they didn't much care for his
penchant for unpredictability.
they liked a deity they could tame.

i used to see him glancing at me
as i yawned through yet another AGM,
waiting for the coffee and donuts.

one day i was outside
listening for thunder,
seeing how the great green grey clouds had congregated
around my head,
i was silently wishing for heavenly voices,
as i was wont to do
when he came walking toward me.
all i could think of was the way
his eyes never left mine for
one moment and how easy it was to look back
at him.

I think we are supposed to travel together
he said.

oh, says i,
i didn't know i was going any
where.

oh, he smiled,
you are.

his truth buttered down my thighs
and made me gasp.
(he never did learn to tone that down.)

'Come on', he says,
'my bike is parked
right outside.'