Saturday, November 12, 2022

The measure of a marriage

I could tell you
How long they have been married
What each of them do
Who earns how much
And who they live with
And where

And that would tell you nothing
About the marriage

The marriage is measured
Not in such facts
But in moments,
In relationships

The relationship between
The number of times
The baby gets up at night
And the depth of redness
In the eyes the following morning 
(Yes it matters, Whose eye it is)

The number of yawns a partner takes
And the number of extra naps they get
The favorite returned with a number of
Unnecessary caresses
And the brightness of
The twinkle in the eyes 
In return

The number of coffee cups
Or teas or waters
That come in twos
Compared to the ones
That come in ones
And the hours spent
Stirring and stewing
The minutiae of life
That would bore
Anyone who is not them
To death 

Yes, these and more,
Are the measures of a marriage
And parenting
That are
Impossible to measure
By any means

(Inspired by, obviously,
Invisible cities)


No comments:

Post a Comment