My First Date

Subira was her name.
She used to sit in front of the class,
And I sat at the back to view her ass.
I’d drop my ruler or pencil
Beneath her desk, and ask politely
To be allowed to fetch it,
Just so my hands could
Stray to touch her legs.
She’d look at me and smile,
And sometimes laugh,
And say I was cheeky,
Calling me an imp, and a devil.
In P.E. class I’d look for her,
And wait to take her hand
When the teacher said we form a circle;
She’d notice me and smile,
And sometimes laugh,
And say I was cheeky,
Calling me an imp, and a devil.

Her father said he’d squeeze my throat
If I ever touched her. Her mother said
She’d take off my clothes
And bite off my dick. Her brothers
Said I smoked weed, and I was mad,
And that I would make their sister mad.
I never listened to their violent rantings
And inflated threats. I didn’t care; nor
Did she; for in school we were friends;
And though at home she was lost to me,
We spent more time in school.
She brought me donuts and pies from home,
And maize, roasted or boiled;
And I brought her fruits, ripe and mellow,
For we had them aplenty.
But the best thing we brought each other
Was love from our simple hearts.
It just grew; we didn’t know when, and
We didn’t know how; but it just did,
Sprung forth and sprouted, blossomed.

Season came when the guava was ripe:
They were red, green, and yellow,
They were soft, juicy, and mellow;
And it rained in the afternoons,
And the sky was healthy and blue,
And the farms were green and rich,
And birds twittered and tweeted merrily
In the trees and fed and made love
And taught their fledging young to fly;
And the world resounded with matchless beauty
And supreme serenity, and peaceful love.
We were young, and beautiful,
Our hearts beautiful, our lives uncomplicated.
When Saturday came and the church was done,
I told Subira there were guavas up in the hill.
She looked at me and smiled, and laughed,
And said guavas were her favourite.
So up in the hill we went,
Thro’ tall grass and rough paths,
Thorny thickets and steep climbs,
Until, at last, we found a pregnant tree.
I climbed and threw down the fruits
While my love gathered them under a shade;
After which we sat side-by-side and ate,
Talking about school and teachers
And classmates and our families and the hill.
She ate more than I did,
But I did not mind; and when she
Started to get up and let out a foul gas,
We both laughed in joy fanning our faces;
For we knew it was the effect of the guavas.
We went home knowing, without speaking,
That we’d do it again the following week.

That was how my I spent my first date.
Regrettably, it was the best I ever had;
For we did not pretend; had no anxiety;
And no demands we couldn’t meet.
We didn't strain to please,
Everything came from the heart.
And when we laughed,
It was unpretentious and unrestrained,
Deep and heart-warming—a child’s laugh!
Now I live in the city, and I pay to laugh!
There are no hills, no guavas, and no birds,
Just traffic, and the sound of traffic;
And I’m tired of ever rushing around.
There is nowhere else to go because
Everywhere is owned, marked “Private Property
Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted!”
I have a girlfriend, and all we do is fuck,
We fuck with desperation, like we’d break up
If we stopped! And we laugh with desperation,
Like we’d cry if we didn’t laugh!
We say it is love because we do not know
What else to call it. We’re afraid to move out
And trust other people with our madness.
We eat junk and go to places we hate,
Pretending to have fun, doing artificial things,
And always worrying about Monday,
Longing for a weekend that never lasts!