better

Better a demon with a cheerful face than a scowling fairy

sa'adi                                                 
tr. S.Haim                                                                  

til death do us apart

Husband and wife meet again in Heaven. Wife says 'Here we are together again'. Husband says 'Screw that! the deal was til death do us apart!'

A Really Bad Day

There was this guy at a bar, just looking at his drink. He stays like that for half of an hour.

Then, this big trouble-making truck driver steps next to him, takes the drink from the guy, and just drinks it all down. The poor man starts crying. The truck driver says, "Come on man, I was just joking. Here, I'll buy you another drink. I just can't stand to see a man cry."

"No, it's not that. This day is the worst of my life. First, I fall asleep, and I go late to my office. My boss, outrageous, fires me. When I leave the building, to my car, I found out it was stolen. The police said that they can do nothing. I get a cab to return home, and when I leave it, I remember I left my wallet and credit cards there. The cab driver just drives away."

"I go home, and when I get there, I find my wife in bed with the gardener. I leave home, and come to this bar. And just when I was thinking about putting an end to my life, you show up and drink my poison."

Dancing

On a hilltop at sunset, they danced one last time. High clouds burned crimson and chromium, and she sang to him:

o this is the guillotine, and this is the knife
this is for murder, this is for life

He whirled her like a dervish, spinning her about and about, watching her dark hair mask her face like a funeral veil.

so come, hangman, tie up your noose
my lover is here, waiting for you

He dipped her low, kissed her carmine lips, then lifted her into the sky. She laughed with delight, and he couldn't remember the last time she'd sounded so happy.

we dance on the hill, we prance through the heath
we eat, drink and are merry, till we're all out of breath

And the music ended, and the first stars appeared in the eastern firmament. He bowed to her, both of them dripping sweat from their hair. Her smile was inscrutable.

"It's time, isn't it," he said.

"It is," she said. "Time to wake up."

He woke, and the bed was empty, and once more he was a widower.

He put on his ring and faced the day.

Patrick Johanneson