The Tallahatchie Affair

“It was only a rumour
- nothing concrete -
that Billy Joe
had met up with Pete
on the Choctaw Ridge.”

The old man,
who was telling the tale,
paused for breath.
He went to the fridge,
got two bottles of ale
and offered me one.
Licking his lips,
he took a sip

then said: “Son,
let me give you a tip.
Don’t ever meddle
with another man’s wife.
It will cause woe
and you could lose your life
like it happened
to poor Billy Joe.

There they all were
on the Tallahatchie viaduct,
Billy Joe with his lover
and her husband, proclaiming
her unfaithful conduct
to the world at large.
But she stood defiant
and picked up a large rock.

Her spouse was a giant
but, overcome by the shock,
was no match for her rage.
He could have fled
or stopped the rampage
but decided to be passive.
The blow he received was massive
and he fell in a heap, stone dead.

Billy Joe was dumbstruck
to learn that his mistress
could be so violent;
he should have no truck
with a girl that malevolent.
Knew they couldn’t escape
and blamed himself
for getting in such a scrape.

He was all aquiver
when he and the girl
threw the body in the river
which was swollen by alluvion.
It was caught in a whirl
of fast foaming waters
and soon disappeared
towards oblivion.

No one spoke of Pete anymore
but Billy Joe was of course
the talk of the town.
They spoke of him in the General Store
said that he'd been let down
and that he was full of remorse.
He committed suicide
to find peace on the other side.”

The story of when Billy met Pete
on the Choctaw Ridge
and the couple who threw something
off the Tallahatchie Bridge
was now complete.

© Luigi Pagano 2009