Before the Fall of Rome

Way back when I was twenty-three,

A lifetime past…in days long gone,

A fair-haired girl abandoned me,

And broke my heart when she moved on.

Now, thirty years, I’ve left behind,

To time before the fall of Rome;

Though ancient history fills my mind,

Like Rhymin’ Simon’s, ‘Kodachrome’.

With memories that never fade-

Is how this old boy will endure;

And that is how I wish they’d stayed-

Like my first love, so chaste and pure.

But walking down the street today,

With all those years gone by and by,

Who do you think was in my way?

Well, my old love - we stood eye to eye.

Imagine my complete surprise-

Dumb-struck, my words went clean away;

And looking in her big brown eyes,

I thought of nothing smart to say.

Now, awkward were we standing there,

No clever words could I amass,

But when she said, “Where’s all your hair?”

I whined, “You’ve grown another ass!”