Nostalgia

A cul-de-sac not ending
in brick
but an elegant wrought iron gate.
Behind it
a private boy's school
fee paying, rugby playing,
science fair winners,
brainy jocks.
Paradise
for a teenage girl.

But we moved,
I left crushed crushes
to languish
in the bike sheds
and playing fields.
Few memories remain;
ivy grows over childish crimes
and the swimming pool,
scene of midnight swims,
is gone making way
for modern times
and computer labs.

Girls mingle legitimately
at Assembly,
the thrill of illicit exploration
gone and you can't go back.