Naked before the glass she said,
“I see my body as no man has,
Nor any shall unless I wed
And naked in a stranger’s house
Stand timid beside his bed.
There is no pity in the flesh.”
“Or else I shall grow old,” she said,
“Alone, and change my likeliness
For a vile, slack shape, a head
Shriveled with thinking wickedness
Against the day I must be dead
And eaten by my crabbed wish.”
“One or the other way,” she said,
“How shall I know the difference,
When wrinkles come, to spinster or bride?
Whether to marry or burn is bless-
ed best, O stranger to my bed,
There is no pity in the flesh.”
(Howard Nemerov)
More Poetry from Howard Nemerov:
Howard Nemerov Poems based on Topics: Hope- The View From An Attic Window (Howard Nemerov Poems)
- Money (Howard Nemerov Poems)
- The host, he says that all is well (Howard Nemerov Poems)
- The Author To His Body On Their Fifteenth Birthday, 29 ii 80 (Howard Nemerov Poems)
- The Brief Journey West (Howard Nemerov Poems)
- The Icehouse In Summer (Howard Nemerov Poems)