Yesterday Man

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

A beautiful day here in the UK! My thoughts stray to summers past and...

Well, knows what the future holds, even for someone my age? There is, after all, a creative phenomenon commonly referred to as positive thinking ...

YESTERDAY MAN

I'd wonder sometimes if I’m gay

till I saw him on the beach one day,

blond hair bleached by the sun,

blue eyes laughing at everyone, a smile

that ran up and down my spine,

lips I’d rather taste than any wine,

body trim and tight, love at first sight

and it felt so ... right

Oh, but I had a hard on every day

that holiday. At night, we made love

in the wildest dreams,

bodies joined with such warmth

and passion, I couldn’t believe

a conversation I overheard at a bar

about ridding the world of poufs, pervs,
fags and queers ...

I contrived to crash into him,

let his beauty bring me to ecstasy

like a fruit flavoured condom,

his voice seduce me out of my shell.

Hadn’t I been in hell for ages,

taunted by a questions of sexuality?

Now here was a god in the flesh come
to answer me ... Oh, fantasy!

Yet, I took him to be straight,

and wouldn’t have dared say a word.

Besides, I was scared.

One day, in the water, he accused me

of staring and I blushed

to the roots of my hair. He laughed

and made a sudden grab for me, arms

pulling me down, no letting go

I thrashed and fought like a fish

caught on a line, but he very quickly

calmed me down with a grin,

though but I all but panicked again
as his arms pulled me closer,
waves crying "Yes!" as both of us

wanting more than a race to the shore
found us sharing our first kiss 

Seems like only yesterday, I'd wonder

if I’m really gay ...

Copyright R. N. Taber 2002; 2019

[Note: This poem has been slightly revised since it first appeared on the blog and an even earlier version that appears in First Person Plural by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2002.]