Her Iron Man

Agnes wasn’t easily fooled

By roses and confessions of love

Her beauty and the definition of “fact”

She had computed and found equal

So surprise stayed away

When nervous young men

Vied for her heart

And yet she came to me

One ordinary lunch break

No time for greetings

She dived into narration.

‘I hadn’t seen him in aeons

And then there he was!

Settled on a park bench

When the summer sun hit his cream skin

At just the right angle

It seemed that his pitch black hair

Hinted a shy blue

As he turned his head

There was a wise look in his eyes

And his gestures were humble but sure

Oxygen fled when he caught me transfixed

There was a grin plus a nod as he rose to his feet

A bashful child could easily shine

Aside my nervous form!

There was heat when he gripped my hand

A customary “hello” in order

But none issued…’

I listened in fascination

More than as a courtesy

Agnes’ chocolate skin

Glowed in these significant moments

Excitement prevailed in her tone

Her hands motioned for emphasis

Her eyes claimed the prize however:

I witnessed a dimension of emotion

I had never seen before in those eyes.

He was the victor

In the male species’ quest

For The Affection of Agnes Mathe

She had told me about him before

And the classic way in which they met

He was the librarian 

And she was the bookworm

The intellectual claimed the belle

Such was her only love

Her Iron Man from adolescence

She rotated her wrist

Helping the diamond to catch the light

He was no longer

Just her childhood Iron Man.

By Tebogo G.H Ndlovu (Zimbabwean)

First Published in Humans & Quills

Photo: www.facebook.com/jadiliafrica