First Love

FIRST  LOVE

I remember my first love
That first careless rapture.
Its zeal and its pain
I desired to recapture.

I remember my first love,
Possessive and jealous,
That fire all consuming,
Demanding and zealous.

I remember my first love,
The passion and hurt
I knew as a young man
When I felt so alert.

I remember my first love
When my senses were keen,
The sharpest, the brightest
They ever have been.

But as time has moved on
I now understand
That my passion is spent
My fervour unmanned.

I was looking for first love,
Thought that’s what I needed,
A Faustian bargain
With lust now receded.

I was looking for first love
Could it come in old age
Could it quicken my heart
With its fire and its rage

I was looking for first love,
But I now must accept
That time has undone me,
Its tears I have wept.

And so, I give in
To the stillness and lassitude
And remember my youth
In acceptance and gratitude.