At twenty-three I was best man
at my fathers second wedding in
the United Nations chapel on 46th Street.
His soon to be sister-in law
was maid of honor.
She was beautiful in that
” Black Irish of the fairies”
sort of way, so, of course,
we started dating,
until one night at dinner,
Luigi’s on 6th Avenue,
next to the Waverly Theatre
where we were to see
Deliverance.
We began to speculate about,
(forgetting the potent taboos loose among us)
what would happen, if we…..

My Father: my brother-in-law.
Our child: our cousin.
My wife: my aunt.
Her sister: my mother-in-law.
Our wedding song: Dueling Banjos.

We talked until, will-we-nill-we-
we got the willies and never saw the movie
or each other again.

A few years later, Dad and her sister divorced.
Such is life.
What would we have done, if…?
I wonder how she’s fared,
my lovely Irish ex-step sister, aunt
and for a while, anyway,
my might have been, much related
Lady?