I. 

Today, yesterday, years ago…

I had a voice, a strong female, estrogen filled to the brim,

Overflowing voice–

But a leather-bound 1611 KJV slapped hard till

I couldn’t speak above a whisper then

Silence. Voiceless and adrift

In testosterone oceans

Of those who tried speaking for me

But couldn’t.

Then, a man in a black suit, teary eyed

Stood waiting for me down the narrow aisle

Between pews and stained glass

With eyes watching, hearts joined.

He awoke my voice, my strong female,

Estrogen filled to the brim voice,

From its Silence

So we two could talk

Together.

_______________________

II.

Together,

Our lives fold up like a Swiss Army knife.

Together,

We cut and twist and open

Working side by side

Different and same

In one plastic red case.

Apart–

We’re just a bunch of tools.

Together,

We’re one.

_____________________

III.

Together,

We slip into the night

Day weary, work slogged

Bodies grasping for rest.

There below the picture windows,

Dishes piled high from supper,

Shut the door, ignore the unwashed sock tower

Dangerously close to toppling over.

Slip off towards living room and sofa

To weave our mundaneness

Into stories and dreams and lives.

Half sunk into cushions,

We mingle parts of ourselves into every word

Until we can’t recognize our separate tales–

Our story so intertwined into a unified plot

Pushing us toward forever.

But isn’t this how marriage works–

Two become one, equals and friends,

Spinning our stories from

You and me into us and we?

 

Today’s post is in celebration of Mutuality Week 2012 hosted by blogger and friend Rachel Held Evans. We are writing about how we egalitarians do this marriage thing, this equality thing, this mutuality thing. As a poet-writer, I bring my offering as poetry. Go and read several of the amazing posts, link up with the syncroblog, and follow the hashtag #Mutuality2012.

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