-a true story-
their house was blue
they were both in their eighties
Nancy and Ed had been high school sweethearts
he was a “live and let live” kind of guy
Ed was soft
he was easy and round
and she was more like a square or a rhombus
Nancy was hard like a hospital room
and one day Ed was mowing the yard
and he stopped and he fell
he clutched his heart
Ed went down like he had been shot
and Nancy screamed
she called 911
she paced back and forth beside where he lay
and I won't repeat what I heard Nancy say
but swear jars everywhere shattered that day
she cursed his softness
cursed his bad heart
cursed him for dying out there in the yard
the ambulance came and they took Ed away
and Nancy was still pacing and cursing his name
she cursed him in spite of
she cursed him because
she cursed him for being the guy that he was
the Nancy I saw that day in the yard
made me think of my dad when he works on his car
and I think Ed was soft and it made Nancy hard
and love changes color
I think
over time
she sold the blue house after Ed died
a man named Michael is living there now
young man
a bachelor
he painted it brown.