Poetry has a certain rhythm or musicality, as I call it, which makes it poetry. A good marriage does too. It has a rhythm of give and take, a certain flow to the way things happen and the things the couple does. Even in the hard times that rhythm of love is there.
You don’t always have to be in sync or to rhyme. These days much modern poetry doesn’t rhyme either. But it’s still poetry. The effective images and the rhythm are still there. You may find times when you won’t understand your spouse and why they’ve done something or they won’t understand your motivation and behavior. In marriage you’ll find times when you and your partner don’t rhyme either, but the image of love and the rhythm of caring for each other and putting each other’s needs first should still be there. Then there are other times when you are perfectly in tune with each other.
Why am I talking about poetry and marriage? Last night Mick and I went to a poetry reading. Now poetry is definitely not my husband’s thing but he knew I really wanted to go. The poetry reading was held in the art gallery. He did enjoy looking at the paintings on display for the Shoalhaven art prize. He also enjoyed the a cappella choir. So the evening wasn’t a total loss for him.
He wasn’t the only husband there supporting wives who were reading poetry, interested spectators like me or those singing in the choir. The audience also consisted of wives there supporting husbands in the choir, although these were fewer in number because the choir had less men in it.
Then there were a number of married women on their own, probably a larger proportion of married women on their own. Was this because their husbands refused to come? Then there was the man who came late and spent much of the night playing with his mobile phone.
Did I enjoy the evening? Yes I did. I loved listening to the poets and the choir. I sold a copy of my poetry book too, as the group who organized the poetry reading ran the poetry contest in which I won a prize recently and the organizer had told me to bring some copies of my book for sale. It was good to meet up, however briefly, with other poets in the area.
So, although poetry is not Mick’s thing, he went with me because he knew it was important to me. That’s what marriage is all about. It involves supporting your spouse even if sometimes it means going to things you’re not that interested in or doing something simply because it pleases them. It’s a way of meeting their needs and putting them first. That’s on way where the give and take or the rhythm of marriage comes in.
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