17

And as the new year is born, all wrapped in warmth
We're on my porch, ears red from the cold, amongst
A jubilant war of pots and pans afire,
We four laugh and chant, but I am mesmerized
by her black pea coat. When I was seventeen

She was something I could only dream of,
A swirl of rose in her nose and cheeks,
A perfect form I didn't wholly know, but
It was a smile and sway that drew me to a
Plan executed, when I was seventeen.

So as the year took another hour of
Our lives, this wondrous girl had to leave for home,
But I shan't let her rose swirl escape me
Without knowing the truth, my subtle truth.
In my arms, she too is seventeen,

But I can't go forward, no, not with him there,
My friend so fragile, someone like him would die
If he knew... Bah! There is no time for thinking!
I have to act now! I want her to know it.
I dash out, snowblind, to the passenger door,

And plant love on her cheek. We were seventeen.