I should have gotten to know Joanna better
Before falling in love with her so soon
I proposed to her a week after we met
I thought I’d finally found my wife for life
We had everything in common
We liked the same foods
The same movies and books
We had the same values and tastes
My brother said it’s too perfect
Something just isn’t right
Paid no more attention to him
Than to someone reading tea leaves
You’re jealous I said laughing
We honeymooned in the mountains
Scenic, pristine, idyllic, peaceful, perfect
On a hike through the forest
We came to a steep cliff
Overlooking a raging river
Joanna went bravely to the scary edge
And said Look at that down there
What I said, moving closer to the edge
Joanna stepped back and charged at me
Intending to push me off the cliff
By luck, I turned out of the way
And Joanna hands outstretched
Tumbled off the cliff into
the air screaming her arms flapping
like a bird who forgot how to fly
Her body struck the river and
Went under never coming up
I stood shocked and stunned
My wife for life had tried to kill me
Later I learned she had escaped
From an asylum for the insane
But it may not be over
Joanna might still be alive
Her body was never found
Sometimes I wake up at night
Frightened and sweating
Thinking Joanna has come
To try to kill me again.
Bob Boyd
