Auckland Poetry

Unrequited Love

The street and the clapperboard houses flanking, it was the same
only the street had a layer of asphalt and the houses had been
painted. It was here it all began when I fell into confusion, or as
they say, love. Walking by her house, but on the opposite side
of the street, her home was green and had pretty curtains, flowers
on sills and oozed of small town decorum. I noticed people inside
and stopped, by a little shop that sold knitwear and wondered how
a tiny business like that can ever make a living and its window reflection saw her house; she came out, walking across the road,
and I recognized her at once even though she must be sixty five,
to be invisible, didn’t want her to think I came here just for her,
I put a yellow supermarket plastic bag with holes in over my head,
it worked, she walked by me into the needle & thread shop where
she bought a pair of shiny knitting pins.

Coming out she stopped said I looked daft in that xanthous bag,
(she is fond of using unusual words) I took it off, very was hot
inside it anyway, said I wasn’t trying to hide but was looking for
a gold ring and I didn’t see as well as before. Overcome by lust
I grabbed and passionately kissed her, till she lost her pins: “let’s
go and make love” I hoarsely gasped, but she pushed me away
and said: “Are you mad, I have to knit a jumper for my grandson before winter, and have to go home and cook my husband’s tea,
you must have better things to do than follow me around as you
did forty years ago when you camped outside the house; mother
was very upset worried if the neighbours thought I was common
a tart.” Upset, by her hard words, I put the sad bag back over my
head didn’t want to draw attention to myself when crying tears of humiliated rejection.

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