Song For A Widow's Marriage
Husband, I come to you, no girl,
but a woman earthed from North Dakota.
I have known the farm,
have milked cows,
have forked manure
into the spreader,
have smelt the deep ammonia
of horse urine.
I have borne the womb burden;
I have borne and bear
the woes of children,
woes that hang as unaccountable
as moon dogs or a dry dipper.
I come to you no girl
but I come rich
with peasant blood
and warm as sun-dug potatoes.
You shall have me warm beside you
when winter turns over the roof's edge;
you shall have me
like something held for winter
coming live with flavor
from the double-doored root cellar;
and, when I take the pies
from the oven
and when I take the bread
that yeasted all the kitchen
in the afternoon,
come, kiss my neck
and walk with me
through the late garden.
_____________________
Franklin Brainard
Raingatherer
Minnesota's Writer's Publishing House
1973
