The first time I saw you I thought oh shit,

What have I done, which way is the exit?

You never mentioned your grey streaked beard,

Although I was prepared for plain weird.

But while eccentric is to be expected,

It’s unusual to be GT85 scented,

Poker faced, surly and lycra encased

Oh heaven help me escape here post haste.

 

But I’m polite, a goody two shoes,

And frankly had nothing better to do,

Nowhere to go and nothing to lose

Took the option to ride with the chance of a view.

And one by one the rest of the group

Filtered away or included a loop.

And there side by side, you and me stood

At the head of the trail winding down through the wood.

 

If we’d been walking I’d have reached for your hand

in shared solitude contemplating the land,

But instead you said there’s a tight bend ahead;

And shyly and slowly I went where you  led,

Til on a flat piece of ground above the compound,

You quietly spoke and held me spellbound.

It could have been seconds, minutes, hours,

There weren’t blue birds and there weren’t flowers

as you cling to a shadow of sun under the clouds,

And my feelings are buried beneath another man's shroud.