Let’s face it, I’m scared;

Although I know I could have fared

Better the first time if I’d been

With someone as loving as you:

But the trepidation, that’s unseen

By your eyes, is all that I can view.

What’s caused me to be afraid?

They say it’s the bed that I made:

Obviously, I felt unable to lie

In it, so I began to run,

Wishing I could die,

Neglecting my son.

Was this what I wanted in my life?

Frankly, no, considering other’s plight.

I just wanted to be loved as I was to be

Later in the arms of a lover or three.

But, in the meantime, I took to flight

To escape the angry clutches of my wife.

What had I won?

Nothing with which to try

To have a little bit of fun,

While trying not to cry

About the big, fat goose-egg I’d laid

Of my life, knowing I’d be repaid.

Every word I say is true:

I’m not saying this just to be mean;

I want to attempt a union, new,

But I don’t want it to become something obscene;

I may try it yet, if I’m not dared:

But let’s face facts, I’m still scared.

(written in 1978)