Staying Married

A poem by tex norman

After nine years they were still together,
though sometimes Jack wondered why.
Maybe it was the trauma – the thing Jill
still calls THE FALL. And we know that
all falls matter. The hospital stay, and

the rehab became their shared history of hurt.
Pain became an emotional glue to bind this
couple together like a bandage binds together
the jagged edges of a torn and tender wound.
Over time came BLAME. Someone had to be

at fault. The theory is that if you know who
to BLAME then maybe future pain can be
avoided. Jill blamed Jack. After all Jack fell
first. That fact has never been in dispute. It’s
part of the written record. Jill claims Jack was

hauling that heavy pail of water, and holding on
to her hand to show what? Ownership, maybe?
Jack’s foot rolled on a rock, his balance was lost
and his fall was inevitable. Jill said he let go of
the pail but did not let go of her. Jack held on

to Jill, pulling her after him. Jack would like to
have argued that point, but his head injury had
wiped out all of his recall. His memory of The
Fall was just gone. Sometimes Jack wondered
if Jill might have pushed him. After all,

they had been arguing in the week prior to the
accident. Maybe Jill was the one who stubbornly
would not let go. Now, 9 years later, Jill’s knee
replacement still aches when the weather changes.
And Jack’s broken crown turned out to be a

subdural hematoma (a bleeding into the space
between the dura [the brain cover] and the brain
itself), As Jack recovered he found himself confused
and the details of that Fall were lost to him forever.
Clearly, it is Jack and Jill’s intention to stay married.