I first met him on a moonlit night,
When he found me in the crowd,
And sat beside me.
He smiled--
A smile so wicked, yet so kind--
And kissed my hand,
As if he'd known me forever.
I didn't understand him;
I didn't know who or even what he was.
All I knew was, he was different.
His voice was sweeter,
His movements swifter,
His lips colder,
Than anyone I'd ever met.
Whether consciously or not,
He wove his enchantments.
I climbed out my window,
And ran down the street,
And met him underneath the lamplights.
He spirited me away,
Through the city, beside the river,
And out onto the bridge.
Then he took my hand,
And we danced--
We ran--
We flew.
He spun me around and around,
Till the world was spinning and I was still,
Lying in his arms,
Safe, and yet not so.
I asked him who he was,
But he just smiled and darted away.
"I'm Peter Pan," he said,
As he skillfully evaded me.
"I'll never grow up."
I asked him if he'd take me to Neverland,
But he just laughed and said,
"First you have to believe."
We stood on the cliff overlooking the river,
With the wind in our hair,
And the golden lights of the city below,
And the silver lights of the stars above.
He looked into my eyes,
And I caught a glimpse of all the mysteries in his,
Sunken far beneath the blue,
Casting shadows to the surface.
He kissed me, softly at first,
Then ardent, aching.
Far away, the moon sank toward the horizon.
It was hopeless;
He would never grow up,
But I was bound to mortality.
He held me as we looked out
At the fading stars,
Alone at the crown of the world.
And leaning close--
His marble lips just brushing my hair--
He whispered,
"Welcome to Neverland."
Actually, though I named this poem "Peter Pan" it's really only about that particular story in a metaphorical sense. It's really about my brief romance with a certain guy, and it was kind of our little pretend secret that he was Peter Pan and he could take me to Neverland.