Time let me play and be

A Forgotten Birthday

A Forgotten Birthday

In the darkest hour of sleeping,
woke the husband from his dreaming,
wide his eyes in terror staring,
found he’d done the vilest thing.

For the morrow was wife’s birthday,
memory did him betray,
left him in this blackest night,
with no gift to put things right.

Silent, soft, he slipped from bed,
donned his robe and outside fled,
took the car, began a quest
to find a gift to give him rest.

Brightly lit gas station beckoned,
there he’d find something he reckoned,
searched the store for sweet and pretty,
found only the dull and gritty.

Left the place and hurried onward,
desperation pressed him forward,
found an open seven eleven,
thought it surely must be heaven.

Wandered through the cluttered aisles,
handy things for miles and miles,
but no present real spectac’lar
stood out from the merely reg’lar.

Onward went benighted hero,
determined not to be a zero,
came upon a welcome sight,
all night drug store, windows bright.

Entered he with hopes a-burning,
through the stacks he went a-turning,
came upon the rows of jellies,
and just beyond, the fragrant smellies.

Now at last his quest was done,
filled basket with perfumes to stun,
left the store with future bright,
drove on homeward in the night.

Snuck inside with fears abating,
found the wife on stairs awaiting,
learned his calculations strayed,
her birthday was a month away!


Line count: 40
Word count: 230
Form: Trochaic tetrameter
For The WDC Birthday Bash Blog Relay, Day Three. First place in Second Time Around - Birthday Special, Poetry Section.
Prompt: A forgotten birthday.