Illogical Adoration

She drowned in the river

by my house. A woman

I never met. I did meet

her husband when I found

him screaming on the bridge.

Heard him during a morning smoke.

Went looking and found him

on the road, covered the by water

of overrun banks. Too much rain.

Said he'd been out here all night,

looking, searching, hoping.

I took his presence up here

as a sign of giving up. He said

"I know she's dead." Gave him

my last smoke and the best prayer

I had. Hand on his back, wet from

the water he drug himself out of.

I guess he grabbed a fallen tree and

climbed out. I called 911. Ambulances came.

Four total. He used my phone to call

his mom. She called back. I answered.

This agony was real. I walked home

about a mile with remnants of the river

squishing in my shoes with every step.

My wife sobbing at the news, even more

when we heard they found the body a

few hours later. Still, for all the pain I felt

that day, it didn't hit as hard as when

bacon grease splashed up on my wife's cheek

and burnt her skin a little. Fucking humanity.