Love Poem: My First French Kisses
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Written by: John Arribas

My First French Kisses

MY FIRST FRENCH KISSES
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS

My first french kiss; I was lanky, skinny, barely fifteen
I had the hots for the popcorn girl, she was eighteen
She made and sold the popcorn at the Strand Theater
Our mutual attraction each day I felt grew greater
In my own awkward style, I complimented her each day
So inexperienced, searching for the right words to say

To beguile and convince her, that I was a serious beau
She treated me more like brother and yet although
There was some kind of attraction between this duo
She always smiled and made an effort to let me know
That she liked me and enjoyed the attention I gave
To hold her and kiss her was my intensifying crave

Being a novice at wooing, I was floundering at times
She found it amusing even enjoyed my inept designs
In time she began to edge closer each time we met
In her own subtle way, she was being quite the coquette
I was elated the first time she touched me, as we spoke
She may not have known the desires instantly provoked

Then one day she asked. Would you like to kiss me ?
I gulped and thought, oh god, you’ve answered my plea
I get a 20 minute break at 6:30 go to the left, last row
Last seat and wait, I’ll be there, but I want you to know
This is just between us, you must promise not to tell
Anyone we meet this way, I don’t want rumors to swell

Here I am, kiss me, I reached over and gently kissed her
She smiled and said in my ear, Johnny, I’m not your sister
Her mouth was wet n warm her tongue brushed my lips
Moving back and forth with occasional penetrating dips
I responded mimicking her lingual sensual actions
Each oral encounter erased any outside distractions

It seemed that, we two, never tired of being kissed
Participating willingly, incessantly in an erotic tryst
We would kiss,  kiss again with relentless abandon
Kisses were long and deep evoking untethered passion
Hands would stray occasionally in heat of the moment
A hard bite to the lip would force rapid postponement
French kiss (20)



When kissing she’d press herself against my chest
Her warm and tantalizing mouth had me possessed
That all came to an abrupt stop one afternoon
While we discussing the 6:30 hour approaching soon
As I spoke to her near the popcorn machine
I was confronted by an airman, angry and mean

So you’re the guy that’s been bothering my girl
She said, no I’m not, I saw his fists beginning to curl
You can’t take advantage of her, I’ll see you outside
She said you’ll get hurt, An infringement to my pride
In front of the box office, we drew a large crowd
He cursed and berated, called me coward out loud 

I threw a straight right to the jaw, left hook to the head
He dropped straight down crumpled, I thought he was dead
A crowd had gathered exiting the show, among them a cop
I don’t know what’s is going on here, but its going to stop
The airman was sitting on the curb asking what happened?
A man in the crowd yelled, my boy, you just got flattened

Cop looked at me n asked how old are you? I said fifteen
Airman said twenty three. So what has caused this scene?
Louis, the doorman said. It’s the popcorn girls fault
She played them both, she’s the cause of this assault
The girl upon hearing the accusation ran back inside
The cop said you two must now immediately decide

Your choices are: kids a minor, he can press a charge
You’re in the air force this could cause you a discharge
My advice is, both button your lips, close your mouth
Airman, I want to see you head north, kid you go south
The Strand Theater manager banned me for a month
The popcorn girl embarrassed quit a few days later

This is a true story, few minor changes were made to meet the rhyme
My name is John Arribas. The girl was Barbara. Louis was the ticket taker. Mr. Waldorf the theater manager. The airman was Virgil. The Strand Theater was located at 3050 N.W. 7 Avenue, Miami. Florida. This event took place in march 1948.