What married people like best

To hear that other marriages are on the rocks;

that A has slept with C instead of B,

and B, on finding out, has changed the locks,

hurled A’s new golf clubs high into a tree,

and yes, uncorked and poured away

his last remaining 97 Montrachet.

 

And then, a decent interval elapsed,

that B has let A back into her bed

(his former thing with C defunct, collapsed),

A having promised X and Y and Z;

and married life, back from the brink, goes on once more,

a little wearier and more watchful than before.