An Old River Lesson

"AN OLD RIVER LESSON" while the woman I love is making me wait for her time to go out and play with her family and friends that are now making her happy, I took a trip to the river. I laid my blanket down on the grass and looked up at the sky. I was in front of the lake but I didn't look much. I could hear the ducks move and the children play. I could smell the food from the barbecues nearby. turning over I saw an old homeless couple on a blanket with holes. they had been beaten by the sun and torn by life. you could tell that they were in love. she reached over attempting to hand him a sandwich she had made from items she collected from the garbage. she opened up a warm soda and poured it into a plastic cup. she shook him as if to say, "wake up baby, wake up! time to eat." he sat up, leaned in to kiss her and ate. it was apparent they had been through their own version of hell. she had never given up on him nor he her. I've known many women in my life who swore they were happy with what influenced their mind outside of who they loved. I've seen many men pretend they didn’t love who they truly loved. today by the river, I saw an old couple beaten by the sun and torn apart by life. I never thought a woman without any teeth and a man with three strands of hair over his eyes would teach me that love could last even in the most crazy of conditions. they had made it, they had done some- thing right. there I sat broken hearted by the woman from Padre Street. most men are afraid of death because they know it's coming, but every woman is afraid of love because they know at one point it is real. I lay on the grass and the woman I love is out dancing and singing and laughing and fishing and eating and conversing outside her home when she says she hates talking. she's enjoying herself. "it's been so long" as she told me. I stop and think, had she got rid of her fears and accepted love, she would have stood with it longer. when asked why by those she calls friends and family, she would have said because it's something I've never had and it's been so long. that would’ve made all the difference. By: Chicano Eddie