That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with
Who married young and then retired
The valentines I never knew
The friday night charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say, come dance with me
And murmured vague obscenities
It isn't all it seems at seventeen
Whose name I never could pronounce
Said, pity please the ones who serve
They only get what they deserve
And the rich, relationed, hometown queen
Marries into what she needs
With a guarantee of company
And a haven for the elderly
Remember those who win the game,
Lose the love they sought to gain,
In derventures of quality and
Their small -town eyes will gape at you,
Indulge surprise when payments due,
exceed accounts received at seventeen.
To those of us who knew the pain
Of valentines that never came
When choosing sides for basketball
It was long ago and far away
The world was younger than today
An d dreams were all they gave for free
To ugly duckling girls like me
To cheat ourselves at solitaire
Inventing lovers on the phone
Repenting other lives unknown
And murmur vague obscenities
To ugly girls like me at seventeen
4.8
