Marriage in Fast Forward

I watched them
From across the aisle.
They held hands
Under the hymn book
Sliding into the high notes of
Oh, That Will Be Glory For Me!

The preacher’s sermon
Droned on.
I was busy contemplating the future
For the young couple.

They would marry

Have a few kids
Twins and one coming later
With learning disabilities.
The twins had freckles
And blue eyes.
The other was dark haired
With slate grey eyes
And rarely spoke.

He would take a second job

To make the house payments
While she took nursing classes.
His second job was with the
Park District
Picking up trash.
That’s where he would hurt his back
Go on disability
Start drinking
And spend his waking hours
Berating the little
Dark-haired boy
Who would rarely come out
Of his room.

She would start seeing more

Of a fellow student in the
Industrial engineering department.
 
Divorce papers would be filed
And the case drag on for three years.

He got the house

Because she could no longer
Stand it.

The kids saw their dad

Every other weekend
Except for dark-haired boy
Who refused to see his father.

The industrial engineering student

Became a graphic artist
And moved to Paris to find himself.

She rented a three bedroom apartment

Two miles from the hospital
Where she worked the night shift
Until the kids moved out.

None of them ever went to church.

She eats her dinners at work

Smokes too much

And never laughs.

Sometimes

At midnight
She stares into the void
And softly hums
Oh, That Will Be Glory For Me!