My First Kiss

So sweet love seemed that April morn,
When first we kissed beside the thorn,
So strangely sweet, it was not strange
We thought that love could never change.
~Robert Bridges

He held my hand and looked deeply in my eyes. A smile hovered on his lips.

Perhaps he was amused by the inconsequential chatter I had been doing for the last half hour. He knew he made me nervous. Maybe he heard the sound of my heart racing a hundred miles an hour. Or my sharp intake of breath as he continued to look at me squarely in the eyes. Or perhaps he could feel how cold and clammy my palms were as he held my hand.

I tried to stare back at him, but somehow I couldn't look at him for more than five seconds. My eyes wandered aimlessly, looking at anything except him.

And then somehow, in the midst of my babbling, he swooped in for a kiss.The world stopped revolving for an instant, as if waiting with bated breath for that moment.

I was paralyzed, surprised at his brazenness. But as his lips continued to caress mine in the softest kiss, my eyes fluttered closed. And I stopped thinking. And started feeling. Distinctly, I heard music from far away. And fireworks. Yes, definitely fireworks.

And in my mind and heart, I know of no love so strong such as what I felt for him at that moment. And with that kiss, he made me believe in forever.

That was my first kiss. And up till now, I still feel the glow whenever I remember it. That memory still makes me smile, and dream. ( Sabi nga dun sa kanta, yan ang tamis ng unang halik. Hay, Bakit nga ba di ko ito makalimutan?)

Ah, we were so young then. Believing that love could really conquer all. Believing that love really lasts forever.

But what happened now? Everything's lost. Every dream shattered. Every hope diminished. And that promise I felt with our first kiss forgotten.

What's with first kisses that one could never really forget them? What's with first kisses that everything that follows afterwards could never realy compare to that first time two lips met in a kiss? What's with first kisses that every kiss afterwards pale in comparison?

But hey, maybe it's just me.