Oh, she burst right into town
Just like one of them tornadoes
Tore a path
Right into my heart
I was younger than her, see
Twenty-one to her thirty
And I’d never seen anything like that
In the local girls who only talked of soda pop and movie stars
A cherry red Mustang emerging from a whirl of dust
All tattoos and curse words
The flick of a cigarette and a mischievous smile
I was smitten
And terrified
(mainly terrified if I’m being honest)

I knew I was ruined
In mere moments I seemingly went from pumping gas to buying her a beer
Trying to keep up as she talked of Waylon Jennings and Memphis, a deadbeat Dad and ‘fuck the past’ and plans for New York and her want for life and to truly live and ‘by God I need to live’ at a million miles a minute
Asked if I’d yet seen the world-
And if not, might I come join her?
It was a manic blur, I tell you…
But that –I tell no lie- is how I first met
(all excited and scared)
(and knowing I would see great days -but holy cow some bad ones as well- on the road ahead)
My future wife

Ezy Reading is out every month.