The Ballad of Anne Fahey

                                     BALLAD OF ANNE FAHEY: 1968-1996

(She was employed as scheduling secretary for the Governor of the state of Delaware when she disappeared June 27, 1996...This is the tale told when they say what happened to her...It is sung to the tune of ‘Cowboy’s Lament,”- by Burl Ives.)

Oh, my name is Anne Fahey and long I’ve been missing 

Long I’ve been missing...some say I have died. 

Some say I was murdered by one who once loved me 

And though he denies it...I know that he lies.

Ah they say that a flood can be caused by a teardrop

But I know that the sea is a silence of tears 

As I wander the waves...a soul disconnected 

Praying for someone...my story to hear.

Oh the wind it blew hot...and the sea it was 

Silent...I was dumped in the water all bloody and red. 

The last that he saw was my hand disappearing 

A hand that caressed him in dreams of being wed.

Oh ours was a bargain...a bargain of secrets... 

For he had a wife and position and wealth... 

And though sin was a thing that...often...I thought 

Of...passion consumed me and I lost myself.

Oh first when I met him...I felt him above me 

A man with political future and fame 

But then...to my office...one day he sent roses 

One day he sent roses and a card with his name.

Oh in the beginning...our world it was golden 

Oh in the beginning...our souls were entwined 

Oh in the beginning...he promised enchantment

And always...forever...his world would be mine.

But our love it was hidden...our love was forbidden 

Our love was a thing that no one could know 

For...if discovered...disgrace I would bring him 

And oh if that happened...it would hurt him so.

And so we constructed a world built of roses 

Each day he sent them...and he came when he could 

And I breathed and I spoke and I dressed as he told me 

For to be what he wished for...I knew that I should.

Oh I breathed and I spoke and I dressed as he wanted 

I strove for perfection...I tried and I tried 

Till my mirror reflected the face of a stranger 

And I ached for the lost self I’d hid deep inside.

Now time can move fast...and time can move slowly 

But time it must pass just as sure as the day 

And though I believed that my love was eternal 

Somewhere inside of me...it started to fade.

At first I felt pain...at first I felt sorrow 

To injure a man who had trusted me so 

But...at last...came the day I grew bold and I told him 

My feelings had changed and he really must go.

His reaction was anger beyond all prediction. 

He called me a traitor. He called me a whore. 

He said I was common...and mindless...and dirty 

As I shrank in a fear I’d not known before.

Oh I begged for forgiveness...I wanted his friendship 

I never believed love could turn into hate 

I thought...if we talked there could be understanding 

But that was not destined to be my sad fate.

And oh he was clever...his words became kindness 

He tried the persuade me...we spoke long and late 

But...still...I refused him...and so I was strangled 

Strangled...dismembered...and stuffed in a crate.

Oh the crescent moon glowed in the sky high above us

The sea...it was calm...and the night...it was hot 

But cold were our dreams...and gone was our magic 

As...my body...he dumped off the side of his yacht.

Oh they caught him...accused him...and fought to convict him 

But other’s cried “never”...and did so with skill 

For power and money can buy many bargains 

And difficult women are often kept still.

For the worth of a woman is counted in pleasure 

And money and power...they always prevail 

And roses are cheap...and love’s inconsequential 

When measured against valuable males.

Ah they say that a flood can be caused by a teardrop 

But I know that the sea is a silence of tears 

As I wander the waves...a soul disconnected 

Praying for someone....my story to hear.

(Her accused murder, Thomas Capano, was a wealthy

well-connected lawyer who, at the time of her disappearance, 

was serving as deputy-attorney general for the state of 

Delaware. Appeals were ongoing. He died while in prison, 

September 19, 2011.)

              

                                      ***

Previously published in :

 Digging Our Poetic Roots “Poems from Sonoma County”  organized by Katherine Hastings, 2015

ISBN:978-0-9814569-3-5