FIRST LOVE

First love,
however ill-advised,
is a gift
that never comes again.

It shimmers like a dewdrop,
vanishes too soon.
We move on,
older, wiser,
chasing sparkles
dancing in our memories.

What might have been
is a potential nightmare,
but cold, hard facts
are powerless to change
our dreams of retrospective bliss.

                                            Northern Ontario Speaks
                                                                  Northern Ontario Poetry Collection
                                                                  Volume 19, 2014.