Equally Yoked

By Nadine F. Neat

1982 Poetry Contest 1st Place Winner

You voiced it once, a teasing game,
How that I could have had a better name
By choosing differently to wed,
Who knows, I might have been much better fed.

I said I liked the skinny life.
How could I be another husband’s wife?
Laughter, yet our silence spoke of
Needs beyond our language; not bread, not love.

I could have been another’s wife,
You teased, and walked in glory all my life.
No humor made you feel you must
Speak so, but shaded, tiptoed plea for trust.

You think I could turn out the light
Of vision? Love, it was, but also sight,
In choosing you I stood to gain.
No one expects a birth that’s free of pain.

I have no hunger but to be
So yoked. Our mortal straining makes us free
To seek immortal judgment’s face
As two who loved in trust, believed in grace.