The Wife

Absurdly, she thought Love was there for the taking,

Something gentle at her beck and call.

She thought it was her due, her given right;

That at her bidding Love would come submitting.

Then other needs took precedence,

For years she put all thought of it aside.

A dull husband, two kids, the house—

Like many others she made a compromise.

The slow drift to separate beds

Went by most unrecognized.

Then, long delayed by its other battles,

Unbidden and with a roaring arrogance Love came,

And she, caught up in its chaos and its flame,

Found her needs and Love’s were not the same.