When I Was Seventeen

When I was Seventeen

I saw her first on Auburn road,
I saw her there and I knew,
That beauty was a snare my heart,
Enchanted tripped into.

A lantern bright
And me in flight,
On wings like Icarus I flew.
On the wings of a dream,
Just a pawn in her schemes,
When I was just seventeen .

I felt it again, at Ledisten,
When the hedgerows,
were humming with bees.
A sparrow by the brook,
Preened his wings when I looked,
And the sun lit up the roofs
At Duneen.

A western wind,
through the steeples sang,
Of cities, knowledge and fame.
By the shore among the reeds,
A shot rang out,
A moorhen screeched,
I grasped the truth that was revealed,
When I was just seventeen.

I sat with you then,
Caressing your hand,
Not sure you could hear what I said.
As a child and as a man,
I have loved you as I can,
All my life I have dreaded this day.

A western wind
Through the gravestones sang,
And a lark sang his requiem on high.
When I fell you stilled my tears,
Kissed my sores and held me near,
And later when your life capsized,
Your children gone and Dad retired,
We stood alone and I faced your fears,
I held you close and dried your tears,
A lesson learnt, something less to fear
But I'm still grateful for that year
When I was just seventeen .