The movies and the news
Leave all the connotations of “wife”
In the word, as they scold
And celebrate it, defend and unconnect it,
Insert dramatic contrast...
While all that is inside it
Stays like a bedroom secret:
The glow of tended coals,
The mountains levelled for something real,
The sweat and grease in turning this interlocked machine
From friction and frustration
To harmony and resolution,
The peace that comes from fighting not for one,
But for the other.
