The Proposal

I planned it out in detail
so nothing could go wrong.
I looked at every side of it;
it took so very long.

I thought that I was ready
with everything in place.
I took my own sweet time with it.
I didn’t want to race.

I wrote it out in longhand
and memorized each line.
I knew I had to get this right.
This time the prize was mine.

We met that night for dinner.
I wore my neatest shirt.
We both had steak and salad, too,
with ice cream for dessert.

And then the time was ready.
I got down on one knee.
I slowly raised the ring box up.
It was a sight to see.

The diamond was two carats.
The band was solid gold.
Oh yes, it was a masterpiece,
a treasure to behold.

And that’s when things got ugly.
I guess it was my fault.
I called her by my ex-wife’s name.
That brought things to a halt.

It’s such a touchy subject.
It has been for a while.
And then I went and made it worse;
I gave her a sick smile.

I tried to say I’m sorry.
I made a silly slip.
That’s when she turned to walk away.
You should have seen her trip.

She went down in a tumble.
She took the waiter too.
He carried a big tray with him.
The food and dishes flew.

She lay there all disheveled,
spaghetti on her face.
Her skirt was up around her hips,
the furthest thing from grace.

One meatball hit the table,
another meatball flew.
The customers all stared at us.
They didn’t know what to do.

She finally pulled her skirt down
and scurried to her feet.
Her face was pretty red by then,
like the proverbial beet.

And then a strange thing happened.
It took me by surprise.
She couldn’t stop from laughing loud
as tears rolled from her eyes.

She hugged me and she kissed me
while I was still in shock.
I didn’t know what was going on.
I stood there like a rock.

I once more said I’m sorry,
and would she be my wife.
I vowed she was the only one
I wanted in my life.

She said that made her happy
and then she answered yes.
That’s when I saw the ring was gone.
It got lost in that mess.

We looked under the table
and crawled about the floor.
We couldn’t find it anywhere.
It was gone forever more.

The ring had somehow vanished,
not ever to return.
I’d like to see the snatcher’s face
when he did finally learn.

That ring was just a sample.
The real one hadn’t come.
I used an artificial one
that cost a paltry sum.

The real ring was on order
and we would have to wait.
That’s why I used this substitute
just for this special date.

We married in December.
She was the cutest bride.
And we still laugh about the day
our romance almost died.

And every year thereafter
we always celebrate
with meatballs and spaghetti on
our anniversary date.