I Never Knew You Would Do What You Did Poem by Louise Tredoux

You asked, deceptively casual, why I loved you,
playing with the newspaper as if my reply did not
matter at all; I waited with bated breath - as the
silence stretched; you looked up with passionate
eyes, I relented – I love you because you loved
me first, I replied; you shook your head in denial

– That can’t be true; I only noticed you at the school
revue and then you already knew who I was – you
replied; I laughed – Yes, because you had
commented on my essay when you came to
see father and I noticed who this kind person
was – you were surprised; you did not know

I wrote the winning essay; I laughed – That is
when I fell in love with you, when did you start
to love me too? - At the revue, you replied; when
you sang and danced and fell from the podium; I
helped you up; your eyes filled with tears – Then
you abandoned your pose of insouciance

And embraced me – What would you like to do tonight;
with your father out of town – I would like to watch TV
with you, lie on your shoulder - I replied; you agreed;
smiling sweetly, then I discovered what you really
wanted to do while watching TV with me; it was
wonderful; I never knew, but now I do, I fully

Approve, so many times; again and again? It is better
than my fantasies; you seemed so impeccable and
respectable, I never knew you would do what
you did, or that I would love it so much…