Something About Ed's Wife Poem by David Welch

I first met Ed's wife when he moved in next door,
it was hard not to see such a beauty,
nearly six feet, with long, honey-blonde hair,
and skin as perfect as any movie.

Now I did not say this to my dear wife,
even at thirty I was no damned fool,
plus Ed was such a likable fellow,
and poaching another man's game ain't cool.

Besides, when we invited them over,
Di and my wife chattered on like school girls,
soon to become the fastest of friends,
a permanent part of my little world.

But even then something seemed to be off
when I looked at Ed's lovely wife,
no one looked like that outside Hollywood,
she seemed too flawless to be part of real life.

Years passed and both our families had babies,
my self a son Joe, and a daughter Nell.
Ed and Di had two daughters of their own,
countless stories of them Ed did tell.

Di, it seemed, knew motherhood to a T,
always knew just what her girls were needing,
My wife would watch when she went over,
from a first-time mother she was learning? !

It wasn't just as a mother Di excelled,
in brains she seemed to exceed us all,
could recite a hundred poems by rote,
from beatnik musings to Troy's tragic fall.

Maybe it was this, that shocked me the most,
she had no need to rely on her looks,
most pretty girls seemed to have nothing else,
and yet Ed's wide could recite entire books!

As the years went our kids became friends,
we had outings to the local sites,
Ed's wife could answer all of their questions,
and the kiddos always had a good time.

When they became teens, my oldest, Joe,
started dating her eldest Helena,
they got married just out of college,
Ed and Di were no practically in-laws.

And yet through it all my sixth sense nudged me,
wondering why Di seemed too good to be true,
but I'd grown too old to go make new friends,
so I kept to myself all of these views.

Then there came so many grandchildren,
get-togethers on every holiday,
a very good life, I say looking back,
I wished it could go forever that way.

But time is a killer, and one day Ed
suffered a fall at age seventy-six,
the doctors looked and found a brain tumor,
that had spread so wide it couldn't be fixed.

Ed and Di seemed to take the news calmly,
poor Ed would pass away in four month's time,
blessed to die while sleeping peacefully
in his bed with his wife by his side.

The funeral was held a week later,
many came to say their final farewells,
later when we took Di back to her home
she asked if we could come in for a spell.

We though she was just feeling alone,
and we wanted to be there for our friend,
but what happened when we all stepped inside
shocked both me and my wife to no end.

The wrinkles faded away from Di's face,
hair turned from gray to its old honey-blonde,
the weight seemed to vanish, her breasts firmed up,
and the stoop in her back soon was gone!

She once again looked to be in her twenties,
confusion quickly wracked my poor brain,
she said, "That was a glamour, to stay hidden,
if you sit down I will try to explain…"

We went to the couch, too stunned to react,
she said, "You both know my nickname is ‘Di, '
but I'm not ‘Diana, ' I'm Aphro-di-te,
for five thousand years I have been alive."

My wife remained too shocked to speak up,
but I croaked out, "You mean like the Goddess? "
She nodded sadly, "That's what they called me,
back when I thought this power was a great gift.

"But now I think whoever's in charge
doomed all of my family with a curse,
Ed was the latest in many husbands,
he was my five hundred and fifty-first."

Suddenly everything made sense to me,
what I'd felt but could not vocalize,
how a first-time mother knew all the tricks,
how she was smarter than any man alive.

But she just sighed, "You every day folk
seem to think living forever is great,
but having to watch those that you live die…
might be the worst of possible fates.

"And for a woman who lives I like I do
there can be no relief or way out,
hard as I try, I keep falling in love,
and keep coming to where I am now.

"You've been such good friends, so I have to ask
to watch over my grandkids for me,
and my daughter, not even she knows,
I made Ed swear to complete secrecy.

"Tell them I was lost, drowned deep in my grief,
that I wandered off and didn't come home,
sticking around would just make things harder,
it's better now if I go off, alone."

She picked up two bags she'd already packed,
stopped at the front door, still looking in pain,
said, "The worst of it is, since I cannot die,
I'll never get to see him again."

She went to her car, quickly drove away,
we never did see our friend anymore,
in the years since my wife also passed,
and it seems I am knocking on death's door.

I don't even know why I write this all down,
those who read it will just have a big laugh
at this old man and his wild musings,
but I must tell it in spite of all that.

And if any who read are the praying type
I asked you to please space a few words,
for that woman still out there, forever cursed
to be trapped here upon this cold world.