Engaged Too Young
Engaged Too Young
In 4th grade, I got engaged
I’d loved her from the moment my
Eyes
Looked away from my juicebox
A dime, a fist on a jukebox,
An “ayyyyeee”
Were all my mind could muster
—I had to be cool
I chased her
Running after every glance
Every smile she’d let me pick up
And return
Like Cinderella to her slipper—
I didn’t know much about the world
Outside our private school walls
But I knew
It was love
She kissed me
Behind the stacked chairs
At the end of the hallway
Once
My cheek burned
My chest felt a similar
Smolder—
It was our
Secret
Her older sister Caroline
Knew
How I felt
So I asked for Catherine’s hand
If that’d be okay—
Her dad wasn’t there
And he didn’t like us writing letters
Let alone having life-altering observances
But I wanted to be a gentleman
Like I was taught—
She agreed
I knew I needed a ring to make the gesture
Clear
So I pooled my change together
And told my dad I
Needed something
Out of the gumball machine
As we left the mall—
It took a few tries,
Eventually, I got a ring
To place in one of my mom’s old
Suede ring boxes—
I waited
After school, at the front of class
Her adorable face in front of me,
Caroline as our witness, officiating the
Proceedings
I asked for her hand
Which she gave
And we were happy
Until her father died
—I haven’t been engaged since
About this poem
A poem about the childhood love that shapes us and informs how we measure love, in adulthood.
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Written on November 17, 2024
Submitted by ericmatrix1 on November 17, 2024
- 1:21 min read
- 191 Views
Quick analysis:
| Scheme | X XABBXXCX CXXXCXXDX EXFXXCCCX XDXGFXXHXXX CXCAIXXBIXHX XEEXGXEX X |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 1,356 |
| Words | 273 |
| Stanzas | 8 |
| Stanza Lengths | 1, 8, 9, 9, 11, 12, 8, 1 |
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"Engaged Too Young" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 22 Jan. 2025. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/207080/engaged-too-young>.
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