A Romantic Fool

Years ago,
when still at school,
I was called
a romantic fool.

It wasn't because
I envisaged romance
with the girl I met
at the prom dance.

I wasn't enchanted
by her beauteous looks,
my interest lay then
in poetry books.

Reading Shakespeare
and his love sonnets
has always been
a bee in my bonnet.

My fellow students
thought it perverse
that instead of girls
I preferred verse.

When I grew up
and became mature
I could no longer
resist the lure.

The girl from the prom
crossed my path
a few years later
in the city of Bath.

And this time 
I couldn't refuse
when she offered
to be my muse.

© Luigi Pagano 2022