Snubs
Coldest shoulder between her and
red-hot myth of married love, tall
tale sung y prankster Beach Boys:
³wouldn't it be nice...² so
nice if we were married nice
particularly since we would
³sleep together,² but
that's where everyone's wrong:
he needs ³privacy² to sleep
which means he never ever touches
her in bed except when he itches
itches hoping she's itching too
then he inches on over scratching
at her heart, her mouth, her...
Then she's off to the couch:
she needs self-determination
vengeance - ³silence² -
to sleep and what can he say
that's her trump card because
he snores imitating major
appliances plumbing disasters
power tools army aircraft so loud
he wakes himself up laughing
while she hopes that too-short
couch won't permanently gnarl her
knees in compensation for her
recompense; knees in the morning hot
stiff and aching as if she'd been
kidnapped, buried in a too-small
wooden box underground.
Mary Winters