Innocence

We were after playing a Rugby match Against Glaswegians in Galway bay It was back in the early fifties On a bright and windy day We won by twenty points to twelve And stayed late admiring the Bay I had rented a car with my old friend My scrum-half Nutty O’Dea We enjoyed our walk along the sand Having fun with some of the girls Two of then came from Limerick With smiles that envied pearls We had asked them how they got here They said on a bus to attend a dance We agreed t drive them home As we would stay on and go to the dance Sea Point was the name of the dance hall Where all the best bands played And Mick Delahunty was playing that night And we were delighted that we stayed We danced and talked until midnight Never asking each others last name Susan hooked up with me And Nutty with Mary Jane Susan’s parents were away for the weekend So she invited us to have something to eat I knocked over a glass off water On my shirt and allover my feet Susan helped to me take off my shirt And hung it close to the fire in the living room We sat on the couch and began to smooch Nutty and Mary Jane, in the other room Suddenly a key to the front door clicked And the lights were turned on Susan’s parents shouted in alarm Wanting to know what was going on There was I with their daughter on the couch Without shoe’s or even a shirt My head bent down, eyes to the floor, And I was feeling, awfully hurt To top it all, when I saw her father With his eyes popping out of his head He had been my math teacher in school And I just sat there, wishing I was dead I was the wise guy in his class And there had been no love between us Mary Jane came in from the other room And it seemed to lessen all the fuss She asked me if my shirt had dried So I could take her home And told a story of how helpful I was When they missed the bus, I drove them home Nutty O’Dea got out the back door And sneaked away down the street And waited there for Mary Jane and me To take him off his feet I never met Susan or Mary Jane Since that Memorable day For certain Susan was warned by her father From me, to stay away He certainly never liked the way That I used to carry on Sure it was only a time of Innocence One day in a lifetime’s song Michael Christopher Daly Nov. 29, 2008