One Flesh
Elizabeth Jennings 1926 (Boston) – 2001
Lying apart now, each in a separate bed,
He with a book, keeping the light on late,
She like a girl dreaming of childhood,
All men elsewhere, it is as if they wait
Some new event: the book he holds unread,
Her eyes fixed on the shadows overhead.
Tossed up like flotsam from a former passion,
How cool they lie. They hardly ever touch,
Or if they do it is like a confession
Of having little feeling, or too much.
Chastity faces them, a destination
For which their whole lives were a preparation.
Strangely apart, yet strangely close together,
Silence between them like a thread to hold
And not wind in. And time itself's a feather
Touching them gently. Do they know they're old,
These two who are my father and my mother
Whose fire from which I came, has now grown cold?
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 25 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABXBAA CDCDCC EFEFEF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 758 |
Words | 145 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6 |
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"One Flesh" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/55118/one-flesh>.
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