Brief Encounter Poem by Dónall Dempsey

You in your
Marilyn Monroe dress

seeing me off at the station
after endless nights of passion

shivering with cold
& anticipation

of us coming
together again

before too long
as soon as we can.

You all goose bumps
and lovely dirty laughter

The wind & rain & I
tossing your hair

with a flurry of kisses
into peaks...crests of waves.

You looking so
beautiful in your disturbed state.

You sit
on my lap

locked in this
goodbye embrace

excited as any
teenager

on her first date

me as if I
were

kissing the first ever girl
for the very first time.

The real teenagers
(dressed to sexual overkill)

looking bland & boring

looking upon us
with disgust & disdain

as if to say:

“At their age! ”

Or

“She...wearing such a...
sexy dress! ”

I know...I know

we oughtn’t to be

allowed

but this
late flowering love

is exciting
as if it was

Love

the very first time around.