Proposal

I will write all Christmas letters, thank-you notes,

and pick out birthday presents for our parents,

if you iron your own shirts, my skirts

(or at least take them to the cleaners)

and unscrew the lids from jars I can't manage.

Feel free to make more money

and have a hobby suitably removed

from the day to day to day pattern of our life.

I, naturally, will bear the children

and pray they come by your good sense,

my ear for languages, honestly.

Like my mother, I will want to paint

often and buy shoes, a new dress for a party.

Unlike her, I am willing to drive in the

city, at night, and through the dust and nothing

of Texas (when we move to be near your

aging parents). My driving might

make you nervous but it's a standing offer.

I'm willing to cook, but if you'd rather, standing in

front of a sink filled with warm soapy water

suits me, too. Please remind me that clouds

are a shaky foundation, of the danger of

drowning in a pool of my own whimsy. Because

I love you I will remind you to be kind

even when you are tired, to suffer fools gladly.