First Date

There she walked up; the unknown future

in hoody and gym leggings, easing my nerves

in her smile and embracing my confidence

in her arms as though I had any at all.

There we walked up; the winding Malverns

in our conjoining footsteps, paths meeting

in the warm breaths of our lives, pausing on bends

in our metronomic panting and sympathetic smiles.

There I walked up; the Beacon rising its maps

in my overthinking, overstimulated mind, tracing paths

in my palm back down towards where feet meet ground;

in time my feet found that ground.