First Light

I couldn't see you, when we first met.

Because the light wasn't on your face yet.

I was on stage, trying out for the show,

You were watching from the "audience" below.

You were in the troupe, you knew the drill

But that laugh at my antics gave me the thrill

I needed to continue, to be silly, to be seen,

To perform on cue, but not be routine.

It got me in.

But then I fainted at the end of the tryout.

Did Fate really need to push, to help a gal out?

I'm not the fainting type, I didn't need the help

But there you were, and you asked me to dinner. Welp...

We talked through the night, were surprised by the sun,

Each topic felt new before the old one was done.

You told me your secrets, I told you mine,

I'd never seen eyes with that green-and-gold shine.

This can't be happening.

I had a plan! A goal! Four years to a degree

To get out of my culture's confines, to be free

Of the constraints of a female in a male-controlled family

To use brains and cleverness to change society.

The choice to wear pants instead of dresses -

I wanted a bee-ess, not an em-arr-esses!

Four years to cram all the smarts and knowledge

And get the most I could for a girl in college!

Life plays dirty sometimes.

It's been thirty-two years since that meeting, and how

Our life has changed, to look at it now

The twists and the turns since we got degrees

You went to grad school, I shattered my knee

So much for that career I planned in biology

I sidestepped to geology, then into jewelry.

We've traveled together, fun places we've roamed,

To turn right around to the place we call home

The very town I thought I finally fled

Is now where we live, the house of my grandad.

Go figure, hunh?

And you're still with me, still right by my side

Through all these adventures, it's been quite a ride

Experiences had, and the stories we tell

To our friends and our families though it's just as well

We might not share all the hairier plots

Maybe I'll write them, instead - I've got lots

Of time to tell of our love's ocean,

A simple poem, but very deep emotion.