Poetry 2007

Winner - July/August Poetry Contest

Jeanne Sparks-Carreker

Idiom, Axiom, and Adage

Arrogance and selfishness produce no remorse
And is the reason that I first believed his lie-
Else, how could a man justify himself with others,
But beseech a strong continuance with his wife?
Alexander Pope believed "to err is only human,"
But I believe the idiom is due for refine:
See, the "err" is now fancied by many once dear husbands,
Who once believed only their wives divine.

Covering and through the ambit of unholy Dissolute,
Through ambit of "You are at fault, not I,"
A once glorious face becomes only surface features
As I now have lain with that which lies behind.
Another thinker once believed that time will heal all wounds,
But I believe with time comes only time.
A moment can reveal how thoughtless a man truly is;
How his wife's no longer the woman on his mind.

Waiting, slowly turning, slowly making my descent
Into the peril I have allowed to be my life,
And finally what I didn't know I wanted all along
Becomes the focal point of my heart's eye.
Probably a philandering husband relayed the true notion
That there are plenty of other fish in the sea,
And the woman who stood behind him as his faithful wife
Quietly grasped the possibilities, just like me.

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