;
The Sister-Wife
Loneliness, a dirge upon a trailer wall:
Put it away, you will not play
those sounds while I am here.
I will put you in my pocket,
I will take you wherever I go;
We will hold each other’s hands while making love to him.
Heartache, an echo across a shadowed lake:
Give it to me, I want to be
your source of security.
I will touch your hair till morning,
I will hold back all my own desires;
We will walk together along this pine-pricked path.
Solitude, a spectre against an evening sky:
Let’s shout it down, put your arms round
my waist — united stand.
I will keep you part of my life,
I will never close the door on you;
We will build temples and kingdoms mortared with our pain.
;
;
Cheryl L. Bruno is a writer and blogger with research interests in 19th century Mormon history.
Ahh…you know it’s poetry when it’s so true and potent it makes it feel like someone has put their fingers around your heart and started squeezing and it’s hard to breathe. Sort of like a “burning in the bosom” I suppose. “We will build temples and kingdoms mortared with our pain.” Oh, God, that is so true. Thank you for going there. I’ve become too much of a coward to go for a little while.
Cheryl, very nice.
That is very lovely. I agree with Lala’s description.
Cheryl has written a powerful word picture so I can truly feel the emotions of how she would feel were she a sister wife. Her poetry deserves to touch the lives of others in wider circles and she deserves to have her poems published. I look forward to her completing a series of temple poems soon in a book since her poetry is powerful and deserves many readers. She is not afraid to put her heart and emotions out for others to feel. I love her spirit and desire to support her all I can. Paul Swenson would be proud of her were he alive to read this. Cheryl has a talent that few possession. My children are fortunate to have a gifted mother with a tender heart capable of true expression.
This makes me really wonder if it’s that painfully beautiful, if it really forges this kind of bond. One would hope. Beautifully written, Cheryl. Really lovely.
I once used that expression, sister-wife, in a very different way, of the Egyptian goddess, Isis. So it took me a while to see this as two women, sisters at least in spirit, married to the same man. Yes, one thing I have learned to enjoy this e-zine for is the gentle and honest spirituality I find here. You people explore your different spirituality from mine/
And Cheryl, this poem does just that, a very feminine exploration of a well-working polygamy. Erotic in its own way towards the man, and with a mutuality between the women. I would like to see some of the lines tightened up, but the final lines of each stanza step are very sensory, each in its own way. I love those images, Cheryl.