I fell asleep with my hand on her bottom
and my fingers caught up in her hair.
She woke up fattened and brimming with anger,
her strange face unknowing and scared.
All of her neighbours were quick in the building;
she watched their stairs fall from the banks.
But she was a lover of sturdy lumber
with a crown of wild forest hair.
I want a wife who is stern and steady
and forgives me everything.
In the winter she’ll be swollen with child
and swing her hips in front of me.
All of her lovers are stern in the taking.
Her daughters bear various names.
But she’ll be mother to all of my children
and she’ll be all that I take.

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