Revellers in the Rain

by Leslie Shalduha

he danced to where

I sat, in the driver’s seat

of a grey dodge aries

he shimmied and twirled

through the misty night

my beau, my sister and I

had just arrived

to the old covered bridge

the place

where we partied

to the sounds of 1992

where we drank

beer and mad dog 20/20

where we came together

in teen solidarity

trees shorn of leaves

naked branch silhouettes

rushing water surged

over flint rock ledges

just below where we gathered

the old covered bridge o’er yonder

dark form nebulous in shifting fog

in the car I sat, warm and dry

watching foolish antics of

revellers in the rain

randy travis playing on my radio

‘my love is deeper than the holler

stronger than the river

higher than the pine trees…..’

life of the party

social butterfly

he was loved by all

with a big, big heart

an impish sense of humor

and oh, so charming

he leaned into the open window

with a mischievous grin

kissed me on the cheek

afore he flitted away

backlit by beams of headlights

illuminating him in the glittering drizzle

it was warmer than one might expect

for a late winter’s night

at the witching hour

a waning crescent Pisces moon

heralded in the leap year

the 29th of february

later

when my mom came home

before the close of the bar

her face, etched in sad

with terrible news to impart

an accident, up 669

that twisty, narrow river road

claims too many lives

rumors of tomfoolery

the car on loan

his usual in the shop

a house speaker tucked in the back

cause gawd knows that boy

loved his music loud

had to feel it in his bones

the car left the road

on the river side

a tree, tho, a tree

stopped the car from sinking

into the depths of the

mighty, muddy Muskingum river

a blessing, one supposes, if one can be found

otherwise how would they know where to look

His death, they say, instant

suffering he did not know

yet one survived

with terrible injuries

he knows the truth of that night

has not told his secrets

well, not to me

later

restless in shock

my sister and I left the house

wandered ‘round the town

in softly falling snow

must be why it was so warm earlier

2 am, we drifted

wretched in heartbreak

just a while before

his lips on my cheek

he frolicked in the sparkling rain

later

line of mourners ‘round the block

at the calling hours

his funeral, attended by hundreds

spilling out the church

“the wanderer” played

‘I go through life without a care

‘til I’m as happy as a clown”

“if I had only known” played

‘If I had only known
it was the last walk in the rain
I'd keep you out for hours in the storm’

tears streamed down our faces

unable to find peace in this loss

someone called to say they found

my scattergories game in his car

or what was left of it

and they were sorry

they could replace it

unnecessary, of course

he came to me, in my dreams,

a year or so later

silently he appeared

in the darkness

flashing that same ole’ big smile

yet no words for me

I cried out, reached for him

but he was gone

the message was clear tho

he is okay, on the other side

he just wanted me to know

I kept his picture up for years

that he could watch over my daughter

in her younger days

she grew up knowing about him

never forgotten

not by me, nor by her

a box filled with fortune cookies

and an obituary is all I have left

that, and

bittersweet memories

of driving back country roads

music pounding in our blood

of playing games at the dinner table

breathless in laughter

and his smile as he slipped away from me