September 29, 2000

BATCHELOR'S SWAN SONG

Not one of them could explain it. One minute a guy was out there.
Sure, he had affairs, but they were always short lived.
Every guy knew they would end in disappointment. They always did.
Then every once in a while, one of their own, jumped ship.

This time it was George. The one who sought the 'quality house' way back
George used to be dependable. He could be counted on.
Now here he was licking wedding invitations
And the men's group had not a glimmer of an explanation.

Geoege tried to tell them, in his halting voice, he began
'Can you recall what it was like, when you first met a woman?'
He liked to start all his answers quite slowly.
'Remember how you felt, suddenly, like you were alive?'

All the guys nodded. That adrenaline rush, as they were truly wanted
Was something very familiar to all of them.
Not a feeling of conquest or power, really, but something deeper
Like that seeking part of each of them had suddenly been assuaged.

Each guy briefly reminised about a recent exploit. The group knew it all
'That', George continued, 'Was always what seemed to go away for me'
'Every women, who first made me feel that way, changed'
'In two months or so it was very different somehow'

Each guy knew the drill. That is what happened to them everytime.
And with the loss of that glow, the disappointment began each time.
'That is what I decided to investigate', George said.
'And what I found changed the way I feel forever'

'Since that headiness went away each time', he explained
'I wondered if it was supposed to. And not the fault of anyone.'
'I discovered that it was the same for the women, when I asked them.'
'Love', I thought, 'must be something quite different entirely.'

Then I realized that the women weren't the problem at all, I was.
I simply mistook that initial joy for something more than it was.
Once I gave up being hooked on it. The women became lovely friends
In fact we all had that sence of loss, in common

And so, in time, that friendship was more indespensible than the high.
'And that is why I am sitting here licking stamps,' he concluded.
The room was silent. It always was when George ended.
They would miss his viewpoints quite a bit, you see.

Each guy had something new to think about.
Some part of him that would never be able to sustain that initial high
But also something hidden beneath, a baby swan under his mother's wing
A chance to build a life on friendship and kiss the lonliness goodbye.