ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, North Dakota Quarterly and Lost Pilots. Latest books, Between Two Fires, Covert and  Memory Outside The Head are available through Amazon. Work is upcoming in California Quarterly, Birmingham Arts Journal, La Presa and Shot Glass Journal.

That Failed First Attempt

So there we were.

In a shed of all places.

Your back uncomfortable against a lawn mower.

Me nudging aside paint cans and footballs 

to make a space.

I was seventeen, old enough

but as raw as any rookie

and still under the moral thumb

of parents.

You were a year older

but equally as untutored, uninformed,

I closed the door

to make it dark.

Too dark.

A slight movement

brought a shovel down crashing.

You caught your blouse on a nail.

My jeans leg dipped in something wet.

And there was that deflated raft to contend with.

It wasn’t romantic.

Barely enjoyable.

No shirt was unbuttoned.

No hands went off in search

of something that wasn’t a gardening tool.

We kissed a couple of times

and then, to the sound of hedge-clippers

smacking against cement,

said, in unison, let’s not.

It was twilight as we exited,

touched hands briefly, then parted.

I smelled like gasoline.

Your pants were stained with oil.

What could we tell our folks?

Been peeking under the hood again?