Parent or Lover?

in present tense

As I come in the door, my body feels your kiss —
My soul feels your distance.

Oh, yes…Your kids are here.

You find it hard to be a Lover and a Parent.
Parent wins.

We all eat together, making small talk.
We watch a football game, while you teach me the rules.

You and the boys try to figure out who’s in the play-offs.
(I watch you walk as you go to get the paper.)

You clean off the table.
(Your sleeves are pushed up so I watch the muscles
in your hands and forearms as you work.)

You pour us some wine and we all watch more TV.
(I feel your soul acknowledge me as our bodies touch.
Allowed now because they’re engrossed in the show.)

Finally it is late enough for you and I to say we’re tired.

The door to the bedroom clicks and…
Parent quietly recedes.

©1983, Marilyn Wolf

This poem is published in
In Celebration of the Death of Faeries, by Marilyn J Wolf

In Celebration of the Death of Faeries — Marilyn J Wolf — Medium

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