ttttttttttttttttt






 

THE MARRIAGE


 

At first I thought
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB"BOAT A SATTVA"
      or maybe      "THE GOOFY SUFI"

& as I went thru three
Chrysler 3l8s
in successive years
I began to think of other names
ttttttttlike
AAAAAAAAAAAAA."AMBIVALENCE"

AAAAAAAAAAAAA."QUICK KARMA"

AAAAAAAAAAAAA."TRIBULATION"

AAAAAAAAAAAAA."WINCE N BEAR IT"

AAAAAAAAAAAAA.bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbBut I've never named my boat.

When we first met
a giddy disbelief
that you could be
within my means

                  -- the proud deep Vee
                  the beamy hull
                                 from the early days
                  of fiberglass -- when they didn't know
                  if you & your sisters
                  would turn out to be fragile, brittle
                  capable of only a short-time fling

hhhhhhence you were laid
hhhhhby hand, twice
hhhhhas thick as boats nowadays
hhhhhso that
hhhhhafter a quarter century
hhhhh& nary a stress fracture
 

yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyou were pronounced "bullet-proof"
yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyby that Delta sociopath
yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyytrying to unload you

-- but every time I tried
to take you from him
you'd overheat, blow a head gasket,
as if you were a shy girl
afraid to leave home

-- he kept offering
to break a 2 by 4 across your bow
to show, I suppose, how impervious
you were to hard knocks -- though perhaps
it was just his last futile attempt
yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyttto try to tame you

-- the marine surveyor warned
"don't fall in love with her yet"
& I was surprised
as any new lover
beginning to notice

-- that the name of my ex-wife
was starting to emerge
eeeeeever so faintly
thru your painted over
outer transom
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTThat should have scared me away
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT& been fair warning
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTfor all the heart-ache that was to follow

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTbecause now, after 4 engines
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTyou've taken all my money
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT& no one else
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwill have you