The Ballad of the Dark-Haired Girl

I’ll never forget that September day

When I first saw the dark-haired girl

She stood on the lawn across the way

One glance and I felt my head swirl

The freshman mixer had begun the year

The huge crowd had made me feel wary

The dark-haired girl was a source of my fear

Though I daydreamed that one day we’d marry

I saw the dark-haired girl every once in a while

In the spring she was in a French play

I was totally smitten by her genuine smile

But to speak to her, there was no way

One year later I went on a trip

To Milwaukee to visit some friends

On my arrival I felt my heart skip

Fate offers such strange turns and bends

The dark-haired girl was there with my friends

That was so unlikely and scary

I talked with her about odds and ends

Then I told her my dream that we’d marry

The dark-haired girl gave an angry look

She said, “That’s the worst line I’ve heard!”

She seemed to think me a nitwit or crook

And she took off in flight like a bird

That was almost six decades ago

A precipitous time in my life

I often think back to the dark-haired girl  
Even now I’m amazed she’s my wife