When It Finally Takes Flight Leaving You Free and Sad

Image result for albatross above ocean
When Marriage Finally Takes Flight Leaving You Free and Sad


I.
When marriage finally takes flight
(and I mean ends)
You may be left with a freedom

From its triangles of elephantine memory
Free from a quarter century of cataloged errors

Free of her bickering clutter
Of those dishes and dishes
And stacks of sorry parenting

Free of her crystaline stare and conversation-less daze
Weekends of issues about issues
Free of nights sans joi d’vive et bon vivant
Or any French terms whatsoever

Free of marriage falling asleep on me
Free of her dirty pots

Thank god almighty
I am free [at last]
from her tasteless soups


II.
Free, yet
When your marriage finally takes flight
(and I mean ends)
You may experience a sadness lasting more than five hours

You may burrow deeply under the covers
Through jungles of kismet
Sad as oranges rotting
Sad for the boys
Dreaming arguments
Slapping on cliffs
At the roaring seas

Low as an albatross
Warping the waves
Leaving a continent
                                                             
Sad like a marriage
That should have not
Left the continent
Twenty-three years ago
(and I mean taken flight)
To flutter and skim the whitecaps
Eyes stinging shut
Far from shore

Leaving a continent
(and I mean leaving a marriage)
Soaring free as swells lift

Flapping as they drop