Red Head by Charles P. Ries

Red Head
by
Charles P. Ries

I have a girl friend, she's 40 years older than me.

We say it's unfair to have met when age and polio

have left her youthfulness behind. When I am with

her, being is like breathing and long silences are as

productive as two hour conversations. Love often

finds us this way -

Right person, wrong place

Wrong time, right person

Right woman, near death

She told me that when I am 75, I'll realize how everything

only gets worse. When the ones you love die, new ones no

longer take their place. But I tell her she's wrong.

Life dealt us its cruel card. We won't be jumping into

flaming beds with the passion of young bodies. Rather,

I will roll her wheel chair or lift her off the ground when

she topples over. I will be happy to hold her in my heart

as a perfect moment when love blew through the right

window at the wrong time.

This poem first appeared in Free Verse in 2004.
From Girl Friend & Other Mysteries of Love (Propaganda Press 2013).
Used with the author's permission.

Charles P. Ries lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His narrative poems, short stories, interviews, and poetry reviews have appeared in more than 200 print and electronic publications. Charles is the author of a memoir, The Fathers We Find, and six books of poetry. Most recently, he was awarded the Wisconsin Regional Writers Association “Jade Ring” Award for humorous poetry. A founding member of the Lake Shore Surf Club, the oldest freshwater surfing club on the Great Lakes, Charles is the former poetry editor for Word Riot and a former member of the board at the Woodland Pattern Book Center. His work is archived at Marquette University and can be found at http://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/Mss/CPR/CPR-main.shtml). Charles is also the lyricist and voice for the art band, Charles P. Ries & The Minktronics; you can listen to them here.

jtmilford:
Beautiful story about real sometimes crazy life.
Posted 09/29/2014 08:27 PM

Dorcas:
Amazing how love leaps over barriers.
Posted 09/26/2014 07:43 PM

Buckner14:
As a wheelchair-bound writer, I find this immensely powerful from beginning to end.
Posted 09/25/2014 02:27 PM

plgoodman:
Wow!What a magnificent last sentence. Thank you for this gorgeous sentiment!
Posted 09/25/2014 11:03 AM

Jean Colonomos-1:
Jean: A hit on my hit parade. Thank you.
Posted 09/25/2014 09:40 AM

Cindy:
Yes, this poem is full of hope.
Posted 09/25/2014 09:26 AM

dotief@comcast.net:
I am with rlmanchester. That is a perfect, perfect line. The entire poem did a fantastic job of touching my life with a bittersweet experience I had never considered. It blew me away!
Posted 09/25/2014 08:36 AM

vscholtz:
We never know how much we might mean to another. This poem is full of hope.
Posted 09/25/2014 06:41 AM

r1manchester:
"when love blew through the right window at the wrong time"....what a perfect, perfect line!
Posted 09/25/2014 04:00 AM

rhonasheridan:
I read this as I was watching a most beautiful sunrise. It seemed a wonderful combination. This is the most touching poem I can ever remember reading.
Posted 09/25/2014 12:58 AM

TheSilverOne:
~~~I relate to many aspects of this poem! Found it deeply moving.
Posted 09/24/2014 11:31 PM

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