MARIE'S MUSINGS
The Star-Crossed Lovers
by Marie Delgado Travis
By the time the high school sweethearts
Realized they had never stopped
Loving each other,
They were well into their fifties,
Card-carrying members of the AARP.
He was recently divorced,
But she had only recently remarried.
So there was nothing they could do but
Wait and see...
Wait and see...
Wait and see...
What their ultimate
Destiny would be.
By the time she was free,
They were pushing eighty --
And on Medicare
(Which by then, fortunately,
Covered their prescriptions fully).
When the blushing bride
Finally entered the chapel,
She wore a white bridal gown,
Slightly crumpled, like her curls,
A bit yellow in spots,
And smelling of moth balls,
But it wasn’t practical
To splurge on a new one
While trying to survive
Just on Social Security.
There was no one alive
To give away the bride
So she hobbled down the aisle
With the help of a walker,
Preceded in line
By her octogenarian
Matron of honor,
Who sallied forth gamely,
Brandishing a cane,
With retractable stool,
In case the priest dallied.
She was no fool
Nor suffered any.
The groom and best man
Waited gaily
At the front of the room,
Where a defibrillator
Also stood at the ready,
Should any in the
Wedding party
Happen to swoon.
Paramedics and hospital staff
Would courteously rise
As the bride struggled by,
Nursing home residents, too,
If they were possibly able.
At times, the bride’s veil got entangled
Under the walker’s wheels
She was once almost strangled
And twice nearly keeled over,
But each time, she’d recover
With finesse, panache, élan,
Yes, even flamboyance.
And so, with back slightly arched
Due to osteoporosis,
She trudged on...
And on...
And on.
A wheel chair was brought in
To speed the ceremony along.
The mammoth effort,
Despite the bride’s impressive will,
Was starting to look increasingly uphill.
Thus wheeled to the altar as a last resort,
It was a nurse’s aide, José,
A burly macho sort,
Who wound up giving the bride away.
The groom slept through much
Of the longish service,
But was nudged and cued at the
Appropriate times by his best man.
When the priest asked the congregation
If there were any impediments,
Suggestions or Complaints,
A hushed lull followed,
Until one of the residents,
A sad, sallow-looking fellow,
Began to cough uncontrollably,
Each hollow cough
Resounding loudly in
Said hallowed hall.
Everyone turned expectantly,
But it was only pleurisy
Or maybe TB.
Whew, what a start!
Finally, man and wife!
You may kiss!
Wedded bliss,
Till death do you part!
Unfortunately...
That last part
Occurred sooner than
Anyone expected.
The Grim Reaper
Paid the honeymooners
A grim social call
That very evening.
What happened in the
Lovebird Suite
Of the Oasis Motel
On their wedding night,
Only the bride really knows.
The coroner’s report shows
That it was either
A terrible fright,
Or such sheer delight
It proved too much for
The poor groom’s heart.
He was way DOA
By the time the ambulance
Pulled in at the break of day
At the northeast emergency entrance
Of Southwest Memorial Hospital
(There was, admittedly, brief confusion
Over whether to take him
To the southwest entrance
Of Northeast Memorial Hospital,
But not enough to truly matter.
Either way, he was a goner).
And so that afternoon,
Residents and staff
Gathered in the same room
For the second send-off,
Back-to-back,
For the lucky groom,
So fortunate in his choice of brides.
Now dressed sensibly in black.
A thick veil hides her features well,
So that even the nosiest could hardly tell
That a faint smile, the smile of ecstasy,
Still lingers on her wrinkled semblance,
Confirming with knowledge certain
That the couple’s patient wait
Had been every bit worthwhile,
In fact, better than she expected
Or dared to imagine.
Only her doctor knew for sure
That her twitches and tremors
Weren’t due to Parkinson’s.
And long past the onset of Alzheimer’s,
The bride still sighed… and
She lived happily ever after.
MARIE DELGADO TRAVIS is an award-winning writer. She writes poetry and prose in English and Spanish. Visit Her web site at www.mariedelgadotravis.com and order her poetry books at www.lulu.com/marilu .
