Too Late - Wrong Bait

 

He had a sweet girlfriend in high school,

So deeply in love they both were.

Upon graduation she told him good-bye . . .

She left, but his heart was with her.

 

Once his college years were behind him.

He vowed to become a smart man.

He thought he was being so clever,

Though single, he wore a gold band.

 

Each week he met all kinds of people,

Men, women and those in-between.

With his litmus test, he thought he knew best,

He had a relationship screen.

 

He thought to himself, “If my dates are okay

With this yellow ring on my hand,

I’ll know they are not the right ones for me,”

 So proudly this fellow did stand.

 

That evening he met someone special-

His heart took a leap - his eyes beamed.

The world all made sense,

There was no pretense,

He had found his match – so it seemed.

 

She thought she was being so clever,

Spoke dirty to weed the men out.

“If he goes for this, if he admits that,

I’ll know what this fellow’s about.”

 

She missed the gold ring on his finger,

She felt magic stir deep inside.

He thought that since she was so interested,

It sure couldn’t work . . . life had lied.

 

They talked through the night – many hours.

She spoke dirty words just to see . . .

He went right along, but he was turned off . . .

And he thought, “She’ can’t be for me.

She doesn’t care if I am married.

She speaks trash, and that’s not my thing,

So why do I feel the way that I do?

She doesn’t respect this gold ring?”

 

He asked her, “Why do you speak like that?”

She said, “I do it just to see . . . for if a guy really goes for it,

I’ll know he is not right for me.”

He asked, “See this ring on my finger?”

She said, “Not til now. OH! I see. Well it doesn’t matter

I think you are special, and it just means nothing to me.”

 

His heart broke – she wasn’t right for him.

He knew that for certain by then.

He said he had somewhere he needed to be,

He left – never called her again.

 

You see, to him, rings meant “I’m married”

But she had a culture that taught

A ring on that finger means, “I am a virgin”

And that is just what she had thought.

 

They thought they were being so clever.

So sure they would find their true match . . .

What they failed to see was they were misjudged

By actions and words . . . missed their match.

 

Examining this we see clearly

That litmus tests often mislead . . .

Be honest with self, and truthful with others

In so doing, hearts are all freed.

 

Those who set out to be “clever”

With screens that involve tricks and lies,

Are often and sadly one day unable

To see through their self-made disguise.

 

And after you’ve read these few stanzas,

Resolving “That so won’t be me,

For I seek and offer clear clarification!”

Beware, there’s still much you don’t see.