Shivaree

my decision 
to escape my own sure shivaree 
came to me 
as we herded two of my 
cousins 
down main street 
carrying their brides in 
full regalia on their shoulders 

my uncle, I knew years ago 
had simply run out of the marriage hall 
and jumped the first freight out of town 
spending his wedding night 
in a box car and leaving 
his astonished bride 
high and dry 
not yet having a grip on family custom

with him my hero 
I planned my escape 
and first night desertion 
only to find a cousin waiting at the door
not with my car 

            my bride washed diapers 
in a tin tub and 
I hung them on a line 
on the flatbed truck 
            the store windows were black dead eyes
and the street lights showed 
my bride to be purple 
            in that light my relatives’ 
            laughing faces took on the aspect 
of animals, friends of years 
            were foreign to me 
my glowing 
bride I knew not at all 
nor ever would 

the diapers by morning were dry and I
was gone from there, unlike my 
uncle, looking for a new 
childhood