My first wife danced
before I met her
in a group
of Balkan dancers
she played for me
Croatian folktunes
I told myself
that's the last music
I'd ever want to play
she gave it up
but after a few years
it drew me in and now
it's been nearly four decades
I've been playing for folk dances
learning to feel
those fifteen/sixteen rythms
playing gadulka
macedonian kaval

In my early twenties
I saw the movie Jules et Jim
about a love triangle
with an unhappy ending
I told myself
that's the last way
I'd ever want to live
and five years later
there I was sharing a house
with my wife
her boyfriend
and the young woman
she'd picked out for me

I was just driving
though this uninspiring town
when my car broke down
it took a week to get the parts
I told myself
this is the last place
I'd ever want to live
but ten years later
thanks to love
it's where I landed
now another decade's passed
and I've no thoughts of moving on
I wonder if
I've finally learned my lesson