Nothing Gained Poem by David Lewis Paget

Wherever I go, I see her face
Reflected in streets and malls,
Wherever I track, in looking back
She's hiding behind stone walls,
I never manage to pin her down
I turn around and she's gone,
I don't know why she's following me
I ought to be moving on.

That isn't the way it always was
I'd see her down by the lake,
She'd sit on a bench beneath a tree,
While feeding the ducks and drake,
And I would sit on a nearby bench
And take in her golden hair,
Our eyes would meet, but very discreet,
For neither would want to stare.

She'd lay her hand right across her lap
Just so I could see the ring,
As if to say, ‘I'm not yours today,
So don't hope for anything.'
But when she saw me looking her way
She'd raise her skirt to the thigh,
A look demure that would say, ‘I'm pure,
I just like teasing your eye.'

And then one day it started to rain,
We sheltered under a tree,
We almost met, I'll never forget,
We stood as close as could be.
Her perfume wafted into my face
And that's when I should have said,
‘It's such a shame, I don't know your name,
Your perfume's gone to my head.'

Her cheek was only a glance away
I think she knew my intent,
She glanced just once, and saw my dismay,
Then gave a look of contempt.
Since then she's been the wraith that I see
Reflected in streets and malls,
But could she have even wanted me?
The sense of my loss appals.

24 June 2017