Infidelity: Part II- A Wife's Frustrations

to the husband

Husband, lover,

I've lived with you for years.

Why have you commanded out

these little bitter tears?

What was my fault, my darling?

To you what have I done?

That you sought love not in your wife

but in another one?

Remember our shared moments

back to those glorious days.

Unstained with life's difficulties;

everything's in place.

But changes came and made things worse

as time has passed us by.

Our marriage is in deathbed now

with its unanswered "Why?"

Was it the food I cooked at night,

appealing not in taste?

Was it the cleaning of the house

I always did in haste?

Was it the boring clothes I wore?

Or something that I said?

Was it my unresponsiveness

when I was tired in bed?

If what I did was not enough,

your needs were still unmet.

I guess I have to thank your girl

to whom I owe a debt.

She did the things I failed to do

and maybe so much more.

But all she gave to me, your wife,

was loss worth grieving for.

My love for you is intact still;

I hope my trust is, too.

But I am not yet strong enough

to start our life anew.

So  give me time--a lot of time

for me to mend my heart.

For now let's go our separate ways

and learn to live apart.

Author's Note

I received lots of responses on my previous poem "A Wife's Fury" telling me that the husband is the one deserving blame. Let's be clear about one thing: I am not taking sides. I'm jut trying to see the the situation in different angles via different approaches. My distorted, biased, or inaccurate portrayals of the characters may be due to my lack of sufficient knowledge (and experience--thank goodness!) of the topic.

Best wishes! :D

Reviews

[BlackHeart]

I liked this poem. And I like the fact that you are try not to take sides. You did a very good job on this poem.

[MBUYISA]

thank you for sharing
i like this poem especially the 3rd stanza
""Was it the food I cooked at night,
appealing not in taste?
Was it the cleaning of the house
I always did in haste?
Was it the boring clothes I wore?
Or something that I said?
Was it my unresponsiveness
when I was tired in bed?""
very creative...thank you agan

[Angel]

Darling, I grew up in the days before "no fault divorce"...an oxymoron if there ever was one. Men and women learned to deal with their problems...which is what marriage is really supposed to be all about. If either one expects perfection, they are bound to be disappointed...and you can trust me, this new girl will also wear boring clothes, and cook boring food, and be too tired occasionally for sex...it is just inevitable. None of us is perfect, and to expect perfection in a mate is just begging to be disappointed.
I love the way my Grandmother put it...
Real love is learning to see through one another....and still enjoy the view...

[Blue]

Aww, Angel, thank you for telling me these wise words! They're priceless and I'm sure they will come handy in the future. Thank you for dropping by.

[KeeD]

Good stuff, really good stuff.. This shows the agony and pain someone has to deal with besides just realizing their significant other is cheating, this shows the love, pain, depth and hard decisions that come after. Really nice write.

[Blue]

Thank you, AA.

[Calibaster]

I completely understand your neutrality. It makes sense! :) Thanks for the read request, this was great!

[Blue]

Thank you as always, Alverrann.

[Calibaster]

You're welcome!

[Pushkar Prabhat]

This is a touching piece.........though i could see the sarcasm but the love was intact.......beautifully written.
I enjoyed it!
:)

[Blue]

I love sarcasms. Haha. Thank you, Pushkar.

[Dayran]

A string of words ... like the padded walls in a room ... that house a heart grieving about love. Words spoken like a soliloquy ... alone ... and in the company of consternation ... for the merely simple ... in the way we view another person.

It occurs to us after a while that if we have done all the right things ... and yet it doesn't work ... there must be something else ... Nice poem Arzel ... delivered with a love for precision.

[Blue]

Thank you so much, Dayran!

[Leslie Philibert]

Your notes are right. Situations are always too complex to talk about blame, its mostly a problem of communication. Like the poem.

[Blue]

True, Leslie. Thank you.

[Shaquana Adams]

I really enjoyed reading this. The woman's logic is flawed but understandable. Great poem :)

[Blue]

Thank you, Shaquana.

[MsJewel]

I find it difficult to tell a story in a poem, but you did this brilliantly - and I can't help but feel compassion for this woman. An outstanding poem.

:) Julie

[Blue]

Thank you, Julie.