Poem #005: Man and Wife.

Proverbs 30: 18-19

“There are four things that are too mysterious for me to understand: an eagle flying in the sky, a snake moving on a rock, a ship finding it’s way over the sea, and a man and a woman falling in love.”

                Man and Wife.

He knows. Despite the inscrutable expression on her face, he knows.

She screams at the mess the children have made, and asks why were they born to her.

He watches her struggle and grapple with raising them. The frustration rises in her body and she fights to keep it from erupting.

He shoos the children off. Mamma is in a bad mood, he says. Scram!

The children are the sweet secret they share. 

She throws him a look of scornful thanks. Small mercy, she says.

He bites his tongue. 

He has loved her since the moment he set eyes on her. He cannot explain how that has been. 

She had appeared to him as the sweet cold rain after a spell of dry weather. 

His lonely bachelor existence ended with her reign.

If she laughed, his heart soared on eagle’s wings. If she wept, he looked away, troubled. 

The condition of her heart was mirrored in his soul.

What is it, he asks. What’s bothering you. No matter how entwined they seem, sometimes they are turned into complete strangers.

She scowls. I wish I knew, she says. 

There is an emptiness she complains of. An emptiness only he knows. The children, the work, friends, and family, nothing satisfies. Even his love falls short. 

She glances at him guiltily. You think I’m ungrateful, she asks. 

No, he says. Many times he has felt the same way too, so he knows what she means. 

The void they have experienced takes up a different shape. 

Suddenly the sorrow lifts from her brow, and she laughs. He feels reassured. 

What if I was a bird, she asks, free to leave when I liked? What would you do?

I would go with you, he says.

She gazes into his eyes and wonders how the thought of being separated from him could even occur to her. 

Slowly she reaches out for his hand. 

It’s not that, she moans, I can’t explain it. Have you never felt like there was more to life than this?

He shakes his head. Every time I think like that, I tell myself that you and the kids are all I have, and I should be content.

She nods assent. But he knows she is still troubled.

Could there be a greater love, a deeper, more stronger attachment? A love which could actually quench their thirst?

He puts his arm around her and draws her near to him. She wipes the few stray tears away from her eyes and wishes the loneliness would flee from her. I’m sorry, she mumbles, I’m sorry. 

He forgives her. In her embrace he knows. He must rescue her every time she falls into this pit. 

I love you, he says, it’s okay I love you. We'll go through this together.