Poems & Short Stories

Darling Your Laugh

Darling when we first met I must admit,
When I told you my first joke I was taken aback,
It sounded like an awkward seal dying!
And I couldn't help but laugh as well.

It was contagious,
Something you couldn't help but giggle at;
So that first date turned into two
And those two turned into more.

When I took you to the restaurant
You had no clue how much I was in love with you,
You loved my jokes so much
But you somehow saw through this one.

I had our first joke engraved on the ring,
And when I pulled out that little box,
I was so nervous I nearly dropped it!
You had this sweet giggle and started to tear up.

Darling your laugh made me smile ear to ear,
And when I heard that yes through your laugh,
I couldn't help but do a little dance,
You gave me a standing ovation!

At our wedding as you came down the aisle,
I smiled so much my cheeks hurt,
When we said our vows and I do's,
We both grinned like maniacs.

We spent our honeymoon at comedy clubs,
All of our inside jokes were shared between us,
And fortunately I got some new material as well!
We were both high on laughter and love.

When we moved from that dingy little apartment,
We both could finally breath,
We wrote our jokes on the walls and in hidden places,
It was our first wedding anniversary.

Another two passed and we both sat in the bathroom nervously,
And the moment that stick turned pink we both jumped up and down,
Darling you hugged me so tightly I couldn't breathe!
We were both so thrilled we had tears in our eyes.

Five months passed and we sat in the doctors office,
She did the ultrasound and that is when I almost faint,
Not one but two pea sized heartbeats!
His sister was hiding behind him for two months,

Two more passed and that's when things started to go wrong,
The doctors said that there were complications,
You stayed on bed rest for a month,
And in the morning when I was at work I got a call..

Your water broke and something was wrong with our little boy,
There was an accident on the road so I ran,
An hour later I was there and you were about to kill me,
The hour turned into twelve and the twins were in destress.

They were finally here at 3am the next day,
But you and our son were worse,
They said he would not live to see the sun,
And you were losing to much blood.

We both knew that you two weren't going to make it,
The nurses brought our twins so we could name them.
You told me to tell you a joke,
I wanted to burst into tears but it was what you wanted.

About an hour later you closed your eyes,
And the machine made that deafening beeping noise,
And not a minute later our son slipped away with you,
The nurse rushed in and turned off the machines.

I sat there for about an hour with our healthy baby girl,
They had called your father and he sat with me next to you,
The nurse came in and took the last living thing I had of you,
Your father put his hand on my shoulder and we cried together.

He drove me home two days later and brought some family with him,
They helped take the blue furniture back to the store,
I sat with both sides of our family,
And they helped plan the funeral for my wife and son.

A week after you left I was already laying you to rest,
Our friends and family showed up to say goodbye,
Your father told me how he had lost your mother after your brother was born,
And he offered to stay with me until I found my footing again.

Five years have passed and there were giggling children everywhere!
She looked so much like you and even had your laugh,
She started to ask what you looked like,
I simply told her to look in the mirror.

Ten years passed and she went to her first dance with a boy,
Your father got his shotguns out and we sat on the front porch,
She wore a dress that remained me of our first date,
She told me to not cry and to not shot her date.

Three more passed and your father and I loaded the car,
She was already off to college.
It felt like yesterday I told you that first joke,
Again I couldn't help but cry because you should be here with me.

6 years had passed and your father did as well,
Darling it was our baby girls wedding day,
I walked her down the aisle and felt the way your father did years ago,
She wore your wedding dress and looked as beautiful as you.

Two more passed and she told me that they had a surprise for me,
They handed me a card that had grandpa written on it!
I looked up and there were already tears in my eyes,
I looked inside and it was an ultrasound photo with two heartbeats..

My blood turned to ice as I remembered our son,
I had never told her she had a brother for an hour,
The months passed and she had twin boys,
And they were all perfectly fine.

Six years passed and she started to ask about you again,
I decided to come clean and tell her the truth;
That 32 years ago when we were 30 years old,
I lost the love of my life and a child as well.

She finally understood all the jokes on the walls about twins,
I told her everything about you and all the jokes we had.
She finally knew why I always wore our wedding rings,
And why I looked at them when I was down and smiled.

Twelve years passed and our grandsons went to college and she knew why I cried,
I wrote all of the jokes in our home and told the stories about them.
My heart was finally starting to go out on me,
Darling I knew it was time to see you again.

When it was time our little girl who was not so little anymore,
Came and sat with me and I told her jokes until I couldn't speak any longer.
She was the light of my light of my life,
But now it was coming to an end,

I closed my tired eyes,
And when they opened again,
I saw you standing there,
And you took my hands,

And darling we laughed.

Written June 3rd, 2018