life with blanche

i should have married
stella
but instead i married blanche.
such is life.
we all make mistakes.
she was completely out of her
mind.
caught up in a world of
magical thinking.
she kept the lights dim
so as not to show her age,
and pranced around in
expensive dresses, around
and around the room she went
with a dip and a
fanciful spin.
it was mad house, i tell
you. each tale she told
was different from the first
one, you never knew where
the lie ended and the
truth began.
when the truck finally came
to get her, the men in their
white coats, i was relieved.
the told her she was going
on a nice long vacation, to which
she seemed pleased.
where's my hat, my gloves,
let me put some lipstick on, she
said, and some rouge before
we leave.
the second, the door slammed
i got on the phone to call
stella. to apologize and beg
her to come back.
they could hear me across
the courtyard, stella….
stella….