The Bachelor
He will never marry.
The woman who would have been his wife took one sip at life
and was drowned and thrown in the grave-pit.
He will never have children
so he does not know if he would have reared his daughters
for the comfort of other men
or would have looked the other way as the old woman
set the bucket of warm water at the foot of the bed.
To wash his son, or do the other thing.
He visits the women who belong to everyone.
There is one who leans out from an upper window and laughs
then draws the hem of some cloth across her merriment.
As he walks home alone he speaks to the woman meant for him.
She slips her pale hand as small as a child’s hand
into his hand and he feels strong.
He can’t bring himself to blame her father
for who can afford a dowry and a marriage feast?
The name of his ghost-wife falls off his tongue tenderly.
No one else in the whole wide world knows what she is called.
He summons her,
whispers …
Jennifer Compton
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