Poem: Mismatched Love - Thomas Sabel

Mismatched love grows old gracelessly
As differences surmount with
Romance swallowed by earthly concerns as
Senile farts blow lust away.
Too much interferes with love’s sweet blossom
When two joined as one dwell separately
Though closet and bed equally shared;
The wedding vows remain intact
Yet lack the first commitment.

Mismatched love grows old gracelessly
In separate rooms with separate lives,
Too busy for each other’s warm
Embrace—premarital make-outs a
Nagging memory of labor’s loss.

Mismatched love grows old gracelessly;
Wedding feast’s lost veterans—we’ve
Seen too much of battles waged
With bloodless foes of anger and resentment.
Love’s not quite killed, but nearly so,
Breathing on but none too deeply,
Pulse’s thin but fluttering,
Patient now until dying.

Mismatched love grows old gracelessly.
Anniversary’s promise fleeting.
Gentle gray’s a hollow myth
Of an unspent cycle flows on
Through years of repetition.