She cheats on Him
Every day
Her heart is covered with infidelity.
Dreams betray her hidden passions:
In a lake
After dark
With Man
Naked
Pleasure filled
Evening.
Quick breath and morning light,
She savors the last of her delusion.

But
She loves Him
Every day
Her heart is covered with adoration.
Without Him her sleep would not come,
Her dreams insignificant.
She asks herself
Every day
In the hand or the bush?
The hand,
Man whispers,
The hand.

A good read, S.L.C., nice to see you posting again. Write more.

Les

S.L.C., this poem catches my attention for more than obvious reasons. It reads like a poem of the day, modern, if you will, yet unlike many "modern" poems, it is one that I think could withstand the test of time and go down in books to be studied for its meaning, if not its form. Your use of the pronouns, "She" and "Him" are interesting. With your capitalization of Him, I can read this more than one way, either with She being "mankind" and Him a power greater than ourselves...or highlighting that it was she who cheats him, rather than the other way around, which is how the tides have seemed to change in this day and age. It speaks to our human condition of thinking the grass is greener on the other side and our lack of satisfaction with what we have. In that sense, I can almost read "She" as being Western culture against the backdrop of disasters that have, thus far, struck those already going without. There is an angst with polarity (as between the sexes) that is further highlighted in the polarity between the first and second parts of the poem itself.

From someone who often can't understand poems that aren't direct in their presentation, I am delighted to be able to read more than meets the eye with this one, even if I'm reading more into it than was intended.

Enjoyed reading, S.L.C., and the food for thought.

Mary

Les, it is nice to be posting again

Mary, Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, Thank you. As for your interpretation, this poem evolved as I was writing it, so what I see may not be what you see, but I think you are on a similar track.