Poem: Never mine

Then,
It was a little toy robot,
As a boy, I coveted so much,
For which I saved every kobo that I could palm,
Running every now and then by the shops
Just to eye my treasured prize
And lustfully finger the glass in which it was enclosed…
Everyday I grew my bank,
Until the day the toy was gone,
The day I knew – like I had never known
That it was never mine.

Somehow, too, I knew this day would come,
That fate would pull you away
Ever beyond the reach of my groping hands
And crush the aspirations of my desire.
I only wish that this sad fate
Would at least have granted me opportunity
To bare to you this my heart’s matter.
And then also, I wish
That I had you for an instant
Before I lost you;
That we shared something
In common
Rather than just my wistful desire;
That you held fast to my palm like oil
Before you slipped out of my fingers;
That I had secured in my blood stream
A veritable rush
- maybe from a soulful embrace
Or a stolen kiss,
Something that I could hold forever,
Always waiting on the slightest trigger,
Even though inordinate and vain
Because you were never mine.

Well, if at all it was love – this my ambition,
Then I should (though hardly will) pray for you
That when another finds you,
He’d show you more devotion
Than I could ever have;
That you’d give the other as much joy
As you’d have given me,
Because you belong to another,
Never mine.

©2011, Poem by Tee Akindele