Louise in October
Louise, if I'd known just one person like you,
My life would have changed, it's undoubtably true;
I picture the leaves being blown from the bark
And me walking home alone in the old park.
A schoolboy who couldn't speak up or be loud,
A schoolgirl who didn't fit in with the crowd,
If only we'd met in the October grey,
Returning from school at the end of the day.
But how can two lonely souls ever once sing
Or muster the courage to say anything?
Perhaps if I talk to you, breaking the ice,
Then tell you a joke; a brave roll of the dice.
My desperate ploy somehow forces a laugh,
The rarest of moments on my homeward path,
It helps to unlock all the barriers that
Keep us from connecting and we start to chat.
You tell of your interest in poets and books,
Not overnight fashions or movie star looks,
In Tolkien's epic, why oceans are blue
And what the world means, not in who's dating who.
The last to get picked for heroic sports teams,
Like me, you sit through the term lost in daydreams,
Preferring things quiet, avoiding the fuss,
The chatter and babble that's heard on the bus.
Young people enjoy fun nights out and new trends,
They search for adventure and like-minded friends,
Unable to understand how our kind feel,
Who spend time alone because shyness is real.
If my school tormentors start hurling abuse,
Their unthinking insults won't be any use,
Their words will be easy for us to ignore,
For you and I Louise have gained so much more.
As golden leaves fall amid laughter and talk
And dusk fills the park on our lingering walk,
I'm wondering if, after saying hello
The friendship we've found may eventually grow.
And while you look round at October Louise,
Absorbing the colour of autumnal trees
You'll be unaware of me noticing too
How they are surpassed by the beauty of you.
©