Pax Notturno

Oh to be twenty one again
When I so confidently strode  
Through Alpine forest and lowland glen  
And feared no gloomy gravel road.  
  
Bold and cocky, without a doubt,  
For young men rarely entertain  
Thoughts greater than a concert shout  
From deep within their addled brain.  
   
God help the lass who chanced to flirt  
With such a hyperactive nerd  
Who hoped that she might lift a skirt  
At the drop of a flattering word.  
   
But so often they'd have other plans  
That did not seek to pleasure me  
For girls won't often be the fans  
Of blokes with unchecked vanity.  
   
So slowly I learned to take my time  
To pitch to them more measured woo,  
Punctuated with a clever rhyme  
Transcending the average word or two  
Which gets worn out in every bar  
By bumpkins who will never learn  
That chicks smell bullshit from afar  
Which they of course will rightly spurn.  
   
So while I miss those heady days  
Of love's exhilarating chase,  
It was later days and better lays  
To which my ardor found its place...  
   
Where welcome is each hot return  
And time is spent within the sight  
Of lady beauty that I earn...  
   
With verses in the thick of night!