POEM - The Nice Guy Next Door

Police cars were pretending not to surround our house

Edging into the cul-de-sac in a nonchalant way

Dashing down the back alley

Hanging out on the side street

Looking like they thought they were invisible

They were as obvious as the broad daylight

Which shone down this bright afternoon

I heard of the initial encroachment second hand

As my wife described the disconcerting scene

She asked what I had done

Nothing, I swear, I've been here all day

Sitting at my desk

Exerting every effort to stay awake

Have they come up to the house yet?

Everything but that

I think I see one out of their car

The kids are going to be walking home soon

I’m going to go find out

I’ll let you know

The next few nervous minutes ticked by

With just enough tension to keep me mostly alert

The call back was more revealing

Apparently our nice, quiet neighbor

Had gone on a shooting spree

Shot his ex-wife dead at her work

Drove down the road and shot his in-laws

Was now at large, armed and dangerous

I asked if we were safe

The cop said we have a block house

Stay away from the windows

And we should be OK

Helpful . . .

Our neighbor was a nice guy

The first one to talk to us

When we moved in

Our kids played with his son

But there was a darkness

Something that should have been noticed

That night he showed up to talk

About his wife leaving

            Divorce isn't done in Chinese culture

            It just isn't right, she shouldn't have left

            It is bad for our son

            It just isn't done in Chinese culture

I could tell he had a little buzz going

Must be why he confided in me

As the kids played in the house

He shed some light on our dimly lit porch

In the next moment he shook his head

Regained his composure

And invited us over for his son’s birthday

A big celebration

Lots of food

Everyone invited

As if the other conversation never happened

Now we were surrounded

He had done the unthinkable

And I was that guy on the news

Telling everyone how I couldn't believe it

He was a nice guy

The first one to say hello

Our kids played together

He had us over for parties

           

When his family cleaned out his house

            A large tank of Koi was given to us

I later read that Koi represent perseverance in adversity

            But that is in Japan

In China it just isn't done that way