Two Short American Poems About Marriage

"The Way," by Robert Creeley

Coupons

"I first got married at 17,"

said the cashier, as she dragged
my stuff's bar-codes across
the mysterious prone mirror.

I didn't know what her forearm's
tattoos represented. To me
they stayed abstract &
so I liked them very much.

She continued: "He was a sweet
guy but not very smart." "You,"
she added, "saved 20 dollars
on your groceries today."

"Thank you very much," I said.
"Of course!" she said--which seems
to be what people say now
instead of "You're welcome."

hans ostrom 2025

Longtime Married

Two candle stubs

in old candlesticks

drown their flames 

in wax. A few strings

of gray smoke disperse

in the dim, darkening 

room at dusk.

We're both quiet

as we look, together

and separately, 

into advancing darkness.

Finally, one of us

says, "Well, . . . ."

and the other says,

'Yes, . . .". We rise

from the table,

pick up the dinner plates,

silverware, glasses,

and take them to 

the kitchen where one

of us flicks on the light. 

Hans Ostrom 2024

He's No Emperor

Well, we have to eat,

even as genocide, rapes,

atomic arsenals, and pious

bigotry persist, destroy, so

I roast beets. With a paring 

knife, I peel off dull hides,

reveal purple fiber of the roots.

Purple ink stains my fingers.

Has anyone painted with beet

juice? Chopped into small

pieces, the beets go in a

hot oven. When they're roasted

soft, I take them out, dribble

honey and shake salt on them,

serve with pasta and a simple

marinara sauce & a green salad,

plus a shared slice of a quick

raisin oat-bread I baked. I like

cooking for me and my wife.

It's a good thing, basic,

necessary. And about all

the influence I have

on the world, for as things

stand, I'm no emperor. 

hans ostrom 2024

Love and Toilet Paper

Somebody once asked Johnny Cash

what the secret to a successful marriage
was--his second had worked out well.

In his tremulous baritone,
Johnny answered, "Two
bathrooms." Once upon

an era, a lucky couple had two
bathrooms, one downstairs,
one upstairs, where bedrooms

were. One night around midnight,
the husband noticed the upstairs
bathroom had no toilet paper.

He trudged downstairs
to where a storeroom lay,
and where an awakened cat

looked at him the way a general
looks at a private. The man
apologized to the furry general,

fetched rolls of toilet paper,
and took them upstairs.
In the morning, the wife said,

"I noticed you got us some toilet
paper in the middle of the night.
That is love," she added.

hans ostrom 2023

"Marriage," by William Carlos Williams

Reading/video of 4-line poem by Williams. I think he about covers it.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8CU5M25HLk

"Bitter Thoughts on Receiving a Slice of Cordelia's Wedding Cake," by Robert Graves