Unfaithful

East Kent, 4 October 2015. Matched with “Faithful”

Unfaithful

Ed and Sue were frequently unfaithful

In their sleep

He in hers, she in his

These secrets they can’t keep

Involuntary images

Come unbidden from the deep.

They blush at each confession

Over sips of morning tea

Each is self-reproachful

At imagined perfidy

Acting - their profession -

Trafficked in treachery.

Their faithfulness is like a rose

A flower without season

It ornaments a lonely stage

With petals flecked and hue uneven

Its beauty deepens each passing year

They hardly know the reason.

When gratefully they shut their eyes

On curtain fall each night

Sue turns every freighted moment

Under fluttering lids, Ed flies light

In mingled dreams they fleeting meet
And before the footlights improvise.