You were 16 looking 12
maturity stunted by cruelty
Homeless but for a couch
in an apartment not yours
Scared as the proverbial rabbit
skittering away in shadows
Frightened of me, the one who
would one day give you a home
Not that day but one day after nights
haunted by your dark eyes
You were beautiful in your sadness
luminescent in your fear
You were the daughter I didn’t know
I needed or wanted or would have
You were my future when we both
fled our pasts
You were my hope when we both
held so little
We entered my second half-century
clinging to each other
You were the love I was looking for
and didn’t know it
© Dennett 2021
In response to How Old Were You When You First Fell in Love?
