The Birch Tree and Bobby

A Poem by Winston W Wallace

'Twas twixt twelve and twentyWhen I believed I had plentyOf everything in the way of hopes and dreamsI knew not of men and their schemesI guess I stayed a little girl too longI thought the only music was my songAnd right always trumped over wrong

And evil was just a word I heard in churchAll that was before I met Bobby BirchI had just turned twenty twoWhen I met this boy with eyes so blueAnd a smile that would knock you outI was so in love I could shoutLittle did I know what life was all about

Bobby always had that assurance and that cocky walkBoy, did he have that charm and that talkAnd out of all the college girls he picked meHe said he would teach me to be freeHe said I would be his and his aloneThose square old church days would be goneAnd having fun would replace any sins I needed to atone

He would always come over and visit my dormIt was so often it got to be the normAnd the chaste life I had once livedBecame a memory because I had givedAnd gave until I could give no moreFinally I showed him the doorAs long as he was in my life I would never soar

Or even fly at allI felt about two feet tallHe had taken all my self esteemAnd my little girl dreamOf being somebody my town would be proud ofI had the spirit of a wounded doveAnd this pain would be hard to rise above

So I left the city and Bobby BirchWent back home and rejoined my churchAnd the sun seemed to shine againMom started joking about happiness being my twinAnd Dad said he was glad that twinkle was in my eyeI was so at peace I needed to cryBut soon it all fell apart and here is why

Bobby Birch had not taken me leaving lightlySeems I was in his dreams nightlyAnd he stilled loved me and wanted me by his sideHe always said together we would rideBut I didn't want to be on his trainBecause he was cruel and insaneHe would only cause me misery and pain

But now he was back and staring in my faceMy cheeks were flushed and my heart started to raceYou should not have left me he saidYou are going to wish you were deadThen he grabbed me and threw me in his trunkIt was dark and it stunkIt reeked of empty beer cans strewn in with the junk

And clutter of Bobby's old carThis loser wouldn't get farSurely someone had seen him abduct meSurely the police will capture him and I will be freeBut time passed as we roared through the darkI started thinking about dying and leaving no markSuddenly the car started slowing and I though he was going to park

The old car sputtered to a stopSoon it was so quiet you could hear a pin dropBobby slowly got out and started to whistle in the nightI had never known such fear or frightHe slowly opened the trunk lid with his keyAnd in the darkness his face I started to seeHe was coming at me with a knife screaming “ I'll set you free”

He thrust it into my body again and again“This will atone you from all your sinNo woman ever leaves Bobby BirchSoon you will be lying dead in that churchAll dressed up in your coffin with people filing byYour family will cry and the old men will sighAs they bid you that final goodbye”

" Honey, it's time to wake up and get out of bed"In the nightmare those words my mother said“Come on sweetheart you must have been having a dreamYou were thrashing about so hard you tore the pillow seamAnd look at those covers all over the floorIt's a good thing I heard you through the doorLet's get ready for church and I won't mention it anymore"

I told my twelve year old friend the next day at schoolAbout the nightmare I had and she looked at me like a fool" Oh, you have such an imagination" she saidThat story would frighten the dead"That night Dad was reading the paper to me and Mom“Hey here is a story about a fellow taking his girl home from the promMan this story is a bomb"

"It just blows up in your faceHow could stuff like this take placeIt happened over at Centerville late last nightTwo lovers got into a quarrel and then a fightHis girlfriend stabbed him to death beneath the tall birchHis name was Bobby and tomorrow they will file by him at the churchIt looks like for the girlfriend they still need to search"

I am just sitting here playing with my dolls in the houseSchool is out for the summer and it's quiet as a mouseThe leaves are dark green on the treesAnd down in the meadow the flowers are attracting beesThe Earth spins around and everything has its placeI see love and contentment on every faceI am happy to be a little girl in the human race

The End