Confession

I hadn’t heard, it was news to me,
And she wouldn’t say names, of course,
But everyone swears, so it has to be
True, with or without the source.
Maria was seated so near the booth
Couldn’t help but hear the confession
So she told the content to her sister, Ruth
Who is a lady of some discretion.
But in whispers, Ruth told Mrs. White
Whose face blanched a pale hue
And she told her friend sitting to her right
And by “amen” everyone knew.

At a traditional breakfast after mass
The word moved from table to table
Even the waitress broke a glass
So shocked with the growing fable.
Even the cook gasped with disbelief
And a patron ran to the phone
For telling the rumor gives one relief
From knowing the truth all alone.
By noon all the telephones were connecting
And the story had made a full round
To tell of how my housekeeper’s expecting
As for me . . . . I’m leaving town.

Reviews

[Frieda P]

Hahaha, good one, sorry it took me so long to get to this one. I'm running as fast as I can too!

[Breathetheair]

haha! I so enjoyed the read. A lighthearted focus on a difficult topic the "game of telephone or gossip" seems to leave hushed whispers in every town or big city :)

[David Scott]

Ha! I'm laughing at this one!
Hmmm? I wonder why you feel the need to leave town?
Must be a conference or something.
Loved it! You nailed church life too.

[Ravyne Hawke]

This is delightful and highly amusing! I love how effortlessly you moved from gossiper to gossiper. It is so true that news can spread that quickly in a small community and well today in any size with modern technology. The ending had me laughing out loud.. my kitten now thinks I am crazy..lol

[quinfinn]

we used to play a game when i was in elementary school called gossip. the teacher would whisper something into the ear of the student at the first desk and it would go around the room, whisper by whisper, until the last student was asked to relay the "gossip" back to the whole class...always with hilarious result!!! this playful and endearing write reminded me of those times and spills frivolity onto the nuances of people and their indulgences. thank you for a wonderful memory and a great little poem.