Cyrano de Bergerac

She kicked a pebble with her toe,
She tapped a railing idly –
And when we met she swerved and took
The corner very widely.
I thought that could be love; I know
The power of the male,
But without an introduction
The thing, she knows, will fail.

And so I planned for many a day
A ruse to soothe convention:
Stare up at numbers over doors
And some vague doctor mention;
Or get myself invited to
Some party where she’d be –
But all these things went down the drain
Of anti-dignity.

And then one day we actually
Did meet by introduction
And I told her with a laugh or two
She had been my distraction.
She told me I was subtle, her
Love distress to note;
She was in love and worried
About someone who was not.

And she always thought when looking at
My loving priestly face
That I was one who surely
Could give her love-advice…
And from the mirror, going out,
The lecher looked at me
And grinned before resuming
His priestly dignity.