I must not wake my wife.
At night the doors of the master suite are positioned for the morning’s dance:
the closet door full open, the bathroom door ajar, the room door closed tight.
In the wee hours I must execute my morning routine without a bump, without a squeak, without a light shining through.
I must not wake my wife; I must not.
I arise in darkness and tiptoe to the closet, balancing on the nightlight’s narrow beam. I close the door gently gently, and turn on the light. I dress without a peep; each article, one after the other, in perfect order.
I must not wake my wife or I will pay, I will pay.
I turn off the light and open the door wide; no bump, no thud, no squeak in the night. I tiptoe into the bathroom and gently gently close its door. I turn on the light and in silence shave, and brush, and comb in a morning blur.
I must not wake my wife or I will pay. Pay I will; I must not wake my wife.
When all is done, the shirt is tucked neat, the seams aligned, I stand up straight and check my smile in the mirror. I must now get through the last door.
I must not wake her, I really really must not. She will make me pay, pay I will.
I turn off the light and creep into the bedroom. In darkness I tiptoe and feel along the wall, find the last door, and reach down to the knob.
I must not wake my wife. I must not wake my wife, or I will pay, I will pay, like yesterday and the day before. A test of our marriage, I say, a test it is.
Slowly I turn; gently I pull. She murmurs and rolls. She’s awake. She’s awake!
With my back to her and my eyes closed, I can see her arms out-stretched.
She softly calls, “Oh loverboy! Close the door! Come to me my loverboy!”
I’ll be late for work again.
Brian Sullivan is a Technical Writer working in the Boston area.
8 Responses to “DANCING WITH THE DOORS • by Brian Sullivan”
Comments
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February 8th, 2010 at 1:43 am
Okay. Interesting. Is he gay?
February 8th, 2010 at 6:51 am
fishlovesca – Unusually interesting and enlightening comment.
February 8th, 2010 at 6:54 am
Regarding the actual relationship of the two marrieds: fishlovesca is enlightening. Good comment.
February 8th, 2010 at 6:58 am
Terribly written poem.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:58 am
Hahaha… i love it!
February 13th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
I don’t at all agree with Roberta’s comment that this is a terribly written poem. There are some great images (balancing on the nightlight’s narrow beam) and I love the twist at the end. The title is also excellent. I do think some fine-tuning might make it stronger, and if it were my poem, I’d probably break the longer sections into shorter free verse lines. Overall though, I enjoyed this a lot.
February 13th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
I think this is great! Loved it… particularly the twist at the end.
February 14th, 2010 at 7:50 am
Wisconsin – I agree with you, the phrase you chose to highlight is very good. But single phrases alone are not the construction of a complete poem. I found the poem terribly disjointed, the repetitions, apparently meant as stylistic refrains, are unconnected to the other rhythms of the lines they were part of or to the stanza. As a poem, I found it terribly faulty. In terms of meaning, that must be brought forward by use of the poet’s tools – rhythm, etc., and a lot more work might bring it into the light as a poem or change it into an insightful and well-imaged story. — Only the writer knows for sure and even the writer discovers it only by intent and intense work on it.