At seventeen, she fell in love.

He appeared to feel the same.

Even though alcohol was

Supposedly against his religion,

He introduced her to Special Brew.

Corrupting innocents was his favourite game.

She already had a sort of boyfriend,

But she didn’t fancy him all that much.

Her friend was marrying

His brother, though.

The families all approved of the “match”.

No pressure – as such.

Her new bloke understood about

Her sort of  boyfriend.

Well, he had two additional girlfriends himself.

He favoured “open relationships”, anyway.

Such “understanding” was a gift of cash,

In a currency she could, and would, not spend.

Of course, she finished with her sort of boyfriend.

He agreed to chuck the other women:

Yeah, right.  If she’s naïve enough to fall for that,

She only has herself to blame.

Her life from now on will take the form

Of a game that she will never be allowed to win.