I have to tell you a sweet story, said Bob.
To our friend, Ann Marie, and me.
The one Pepe told to me.
It started about fifty years ago.
Pepe waited for Ann Marie.
At Barajas in Madrid.
He waited.
Waited some more.
For she, delayed by a snow storm.
In Philadelphia where she lived with her family.
Finally arriving, he drove her to Dos Hermanas.
To an apartment, bought for the two of them.
But Ann Marie did not have all her things.
They were coming by boat.
In a large baúl, bought at the Salvation Army.
Due to make port in Valencia.
In a month, they got word the ship was docking.
So, they drove southeast in a Seat 1430.
Getting there just in time.
To grab the baúl and a boxed bike.
All the possessions from her birthplace.
It was in that exact moment.
Pepe knew for sure.
They’d be together for a lifetime.
They motored back to Madrid.
Settling in their first nest.
The baúl, beloved token, stashed away.
Covered for protection.
Until a renovation eighteen years later.
When a neighbor allowed workers to move it.
Down stairs to the street.
In minutes, someone snatched it.
Symbol of their love.
Their union.
Their commitment.
But, no matter the baúl vanished
on a sidewalk in Madrid.
The heavy lifting had been done
by tiny, winged Cupid.
Lynn Benjamin
January 19, 2024
*Baúl is a large trunk.
