the one that got away

my friend jimmy
likes to tell stories
of the women
he's taken to bed.
all of them gorgeous
beyond belief,
but you never see him with
anyone,
not even on a Saturday
night.
he sits at the bar
and orders another round
and says stop me
if you've heard this one.
there was this girl, he
says,
I think her name was Gloria,
or Linda, he shakes
his head.
she had a crazy head of red
hair, and eyes
that sparkled like
blue diamonds.
I don't know why i let
her get away. she was the one.
she was the real deal,
the keeper. he talks
as if she might be a
fish on the line,
hooked,
struggling to be free,
which she may have been.