Faithful

East Kent, 30 January 2016. One half, with "Unfaithful", of a matched pair, or diptych.

Ed and Sue were scrupulously faithful

By their lights

They scrapped and fought in public

And lobbied for their rights  

But clasp each other needily

Under soapy-scented sheets at night.

Wordless they swap knowing glances

Over cups of fresh coffee

Ed thinks he may have gone too far

At last night’s drinks party

Sue thinks it may have been unwise

To join the Ed-baiting fraternity.

Their faithfulness is a battered trunk

Some old prop from pantomime

It’s stout, and not unhandsome

Still not yet past its prime

Beauty dwells in its check-papered walls

Its sheaf of memories cosseted in time.

If every day is a crooked road

That winds uphill on broken ground

Ed and Sue are grateful

For views from stony mounds

They tramp each road together

And wonder at the world so round.