First Sight Poem by John Madden

I tried not to analyze my feelings
In the moments after we met,
Wary that your mere beauty
Was simply another trap to be avoided
Like so many others into which I'd fallen
In the years before that day.


I listened to you speak with others,
Enlivening conversations that otherwise
Might have died at birth,
Starved by a fatal lack of wit, thought,
Concern and empathy, all nutrients
Of a memorable passage of time with friends.


I spoke with your friends,
Quizzing them on your life and times,
Found that you were unaccountably single,
But seldom alone and never lonely,
Busy, but always finding time for others
In need or want of your time and talents.


The entrée' you brought was not half bad
I thought after trying a scoop,
And the twinkle in your eye,
As you played a silly game
With the daughter of our host,
Told me much about your perfect future.


By the end of the soiree,
I'd been caught staring a couple times,
The last generating a genuine smile,
That led me to ask our host for your number
And to ignore all the warnings
That went off in my head when I arrived.