I Give It Six Months

Love in dark bars

Late into the night

Rarely lasts long

Seldom feels right

I never trusted

Romantic tripe

“Love at first sight”

Was just lust and hype

Broken hearted, naive

The job was a fit

But many nights

I wanted to quit

Dressed in white boots

Hot pants, bright pink

I spent the whole night

Serving drink after drink

I was just someone’s daughter

Trying to make a good living

Tips from men’s pockets

Made me forgiving

The kiss that was stolen

From my lips that night

Left me trembling with rage

What gave him the right?

I had to tell someone

I needed a friend

He got on his mic

Shouting “That has to end!”

Kind and gentle

Just as I hoped

He was my hero

While others groped

He stood on stage

Playing his guitar

The audience loved him

Up close and afar

Serving cocktails and shots

In a seventies bar

I was a no one

He was a star

“He would never do that”

I heard myself say

That was the moment,

That was the day

He moved through my world

Like so many had done

How could I know

If he was “the one”?

During a break

We planned our first date

For after my shift

It was so long to wait

Over burgers and fries

We laughed into the night

Too good to be true

I almost took flight

We became best friends

I compared him to many

He stayed by my side

With a love unlike any

A year of discoveries

Sharing a nest

Our journey together

Put my fears to rest

One night after bar close

A drive to a park

The love of my life

Proposed in the dark

Next night at the rail

Left hand in the air

My plans for a future

To all I did share

A bartender I trusted,

Believed was my friend

Hissed a prediction

That my joy would soon end

“I give it six months

You foolish girl

Do him a favor

Stay in your world”

Working through the night

Fear clouded my choice

He told me he loved me

Over the bartender’s voice

I let my heart mend

As he opened the door

To a life filled with joy

And so much more

Burning my boots,

Leaving that life

Despite cruel predictions

I became his wife

Fifty years later

We sit side by side

Children, grandchildren

We share with great pride

“I give it six months”

Still rings in my ear

But love at first insight

Left me nothing to fear

We’re a little old couple

His guitar he does play

This is our moment,

This is our day