Lover’s Leap

Annabelle had cast a spell
on the one she’d grown so fond –
her feelings clear since their junior year,
as seniors – and beyond.

Little Joe, as friends would know,
had found his love for life
and soon he’d tell his Annabelle –
she’d make the perfect wife.

He took her to their favorite view –
a place called Lover’s Leap,
where legend told – a shattered soul
had sought eternal sleep.

Was not the first she’d been coerced
to make that scenic run –
to kiss and spark ‘till after dark,
the way they’d often done.

But now he’d be on bended knee,
with a diamond brought to bear –
and then he’d tell his Annabelle
the reason they were there.

A loving man – he took her hand,
romantically proposed –
she told him “yes”, her love professed
at the special place he chose.

They took a seat and hit the heat
to remove the evening chill –
and filled with bliss, the two would kiss
as they motored down the hill.

But the narrow road where water flowed
from a rain the night before
would quickly serve a twisting curve
they had chosen to ignore.

Despite his rate, he’d compensate,
but failed to pull them free –
with no control, the car would roll
headfirst into a tree.

The violent crash would leave a gash
that dripped on Joseph’s brow –
all in all, he’d braved the fall,
though he wasn’t sure just how.

Annabelle was hurt as well,
but her wounds were more severe –
a metal part that pierced her heart
was protruding like a spear.

A rescue team would intervene
and whisk his love away –
their last resort was life support –
machines would help her stay.

Beyond repair, the heart she’d bear
would have to be replaced –
in grave decline, they had no time –
the search commenced post-haste.

In just a day, one came her way,
they found a perfect match –
they’d operate for hours-straight,
install and reattach.

She cracked her eyes and tried to rise,
but when she looked around,
her fiancée had slipped away –
was nowhere to be found.

A note they’d show from Little Joe,
addressed to Annabelle,
was left behind for her to find –
a lover’s last farewell.

A rash dispose – while still enclosed,
she tossed the note away –
she’d never read his final creed,
there was nothing he could say.

A heart so new would break in two
from the grief she felt inside,
and tears of rain became disdain –
for a man who chose to hide.

A week would pass and then at last,
they moved her down the hall –
she took her gloom to a private room
with a TV on the wall.

First, she’d choose the local news,
she’d been so out of touch –
a choice designed to take her mind
off the one she missed so much.

But then, a scene on the TV screen
from a place she knew so well –
was a sad repeat from the prior week
when a man named Joseph fell.

A rescue team was on the scene
before he hit the ground –
he’d left a clue that would lead them to
the place where he’d be found.

Tears of grief and disbelief
at the grave mistake she’d made –
his love was true and at last she knew
that she hadn’t been betrayed.

The note she’d tossed and thought was lost
was there beside her bed –
she was so relieved it had been retrieved
from the time she’d lost her head.

On the note were the words he wrote:
“My dearest Annabelle,
I love you so, but I have to go,
so I bid you this farewell.

I’ll soon depart and a healthy heart
will be my gift to give –
it’s up to me to set you free,
it’s your only chance to live.

Shed no tear for me, my dear,
just know with every beat –
my love for you will pull you through –
‘till once again we meet.”

Love,

Joe