Incompatibility

By Marilyn Jones, Schoolcraft’s Poet Laureate

Sometimes they went to bed angry
They say you shouldn’t retire when mad,
But there were days when she got her feelings hurt
He didn’t understand that he’d done anything bad.

On her birthday he planned a boating trip
He and his buddies would catch a mess of fish,
Why in the world wouldn’t she like that?
They were even gutted and read to fry, in a dish.

She had expensive tickets to a ballet
But there was a cable show he wanted to see,
So she took a girlfriend with her.
He relaxed on the couch with a cold beer and TV.

For Christmas she gave him a soft, fleecy robe
He gave her a carpet sweeper, shiny and bright,
And wondered why she was miffed, uttering, “Gee, thanks.”
It wasn’t worth picking a fight, but why did it seem
That he couldn’t do anything right?

Most of the time they got along fine
Except for baseball season, then it was football time,
Followed by basketball. She tried to be a good sport
But her idea of fun was dress up, go dancing, wine and dine.

They never invested in a king-size bed or even a queen.
It doesn’t help to reflect on “He said, she said”
But midnight kisses seem to chase the blues away
There just isn’t room to stay grumpy in a double bed.

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