WIFE and servant are the same,
But only differ in the name :
For when that fatal knot is ty'd,
Which nothing, nothing can divide :
When she the word obey has said,
And man by law supreme has made,
Then all that's kind is laid aside,
And nothing left but state and pride :
Fierce as an eastern prince he grows,
And all his innate rigour shows :
Then but to look, to laugh, or speak,
Will the nuptial contract break.
Like mutes, she signs alone must make,
And never any freedom take :
But still be govern'd by a nod,
And fear her husband as a God :
Him still must serve, him still obey,
And nothing act, and nothing say,
But what her haughty lord thinks fit,
Who with the power, has all the wit.
Then shun, oh ! shun that wretched state,
And all the fawning flatt'rers hate :
Value yourselves, and men despise :
You must be proud, if you'll be wise.

as i lie awake
i think about how stupid it is
that the only things that connect me to you
are inanimate

handheld devices can only bring me so far
i want to lie beside you and
touch the creases on your face
as you tell me about how you regret
taking up a habit of smoking

i want to fill your mouth with my breath
and wash away your intoxication
and the heaviness that comes with drinking

i want to put my fingers between yours
and fill you with kinder words
than you could ever find for yourself
and tell you that regret is an ocean
and it will swallow you
if you aren’t careful

.

.

.

but phones can only bring me so far
i find myself staring at a dress
i once wore
and how you said i had looked beautiful
even though you couldn’t see for yourself

and i find myself
reciting my day
like my voice could reach across the ocean
and pull you home

sometimes, i think it’s nostalgia
other times it might be regret

two years is
a pretty long time
and i long to be beside you
to make you feel loved
in case you can’t remember it yourself

but i will have to make do
with conversations at six in the morning
knowing that you will stay awake
throughout the night
and i will stare at the black screen pleading that
with every silent passing moment
your heart will still be beating

It was freezing cold that morning
The morning you didn’t wake up
And they took your body from bed
After cancer took you from us

That day I saw you everywhere
Occupying all your places
Rekindling my memories
Of before your fight was painful

But your residing warmth grew cold
Proving no light grief can’t smother
And soon I’d wake in the morning
Facing life with out my mother...