New Romance

It was kind of awkward
being friendly unknowns
and walking in mud flats
and talking of dogs

I thought maybe I could like dogs
after I noticed your legs
but I wasn't so sure about
the tendency towards old problems

I thought: 'Physician - heal thyself'
In non sympathetic ways
which have often been a downfall
when talking to birds of praise

You, to be fair, hadn't dated for seven long years
and somewhere between that fact and those legs
the mud, the dogs, the old troubles and my curmudgeon,
I thought: " Oh fuck it, why not?..."

then I get ahead of myself: remember explaining to do
I could live and write un-vetted before I'd met you
(with your legs) I could even have - friends
and dance at parties. These things are

Joy and Confidence. I wouldn't hide them from you
or anyone else after they'd been so cruelly
erased from view ( I know coz `I saw them on TV)

Her name was Cleo and she walked across the mud.
And when she shined she really showed you all she could

Two of a billion stars,
She meant that much to me.