Split Sides

To Mathilde

Oh, Mathilde!

How you look dazzling

In that yellow dress you wear,

Such extravagance for an acquaintance's wedding!

How you lived by the day,

Sleeping from house to house

And playing the cards for some green.

You won't admit it,

But you're looking for something.

Before you found it though,

A thing called love found you.

He was 13 years your junior,

He paid for your cup of coffee,

And all he wanted

Was to know you in return.

You took him as inquisitive,

And you saw him unworthy of your time,

And his worn-down uncle was critical of you,

But all that changed

When he defended you in front of your landlord.

You saw him with new eyes.

And you merged with him,

And his uncle liked you enough

To invite you into his secret garden.

But alas, Mathilde!

The calling came for you

And you left your adolescent lover

Below the sweeping willow tree

In the dawn's early light.

And no-one knew what became of you,

And you don't know what became of him,

But it was something remarkable,

However brief your tryst was.