I loved Maria, even from the first —
The furtive playground looks, the music class
I suffered for her, knowing I could burst
before she knew I lived. She had an ass
da Vinci could have sculpted, grey-blue eyes
that looked directly through you when she spoke,
and straight-A grades. The coolest of the guys
were helpless, insecure; Maria broke
their courage, long before it came to hearts.
In Chapel, once, I played a racy song
I wrote for her. They said, “True Evil starts
when boys are lost to Lust!” Yeah, it was wrong;
but, as I sat, expelled, she skipped Home-Ed,
and took me to her dorm, and blew my head.