A girl cuts a deal, accepts a love half-imagined,

thinks that touch naturally breeds feeling.

A boy takes this intimacy without love,

turns into a man by her body’s lesson.

He fills her and fills her with imagined love,

and she takes it between her legs.

She mistakes this heat for warmth,

and ignores the cold when he freezes her out.

He keeps a distance that holds her there;

until she’s woman enough to leave.