SOMEONE TOLD, SOMEONE KNEW, SOMEONE SWALLOWED, SOMEONE TRUE.

All women are wide
When they walk as a bride,
And marry outside
Of their dreams;
So don’t wed in white,
Go in black, and at night,
When it’s less of a fright
Than it seems.

And if compliments fall
Then gather them all
So you can recall
Them when older,
But if none have been brought
Don’t feel overwrought
Use the ones that you bought
From that soldier.

The one with one leg,
Who you couldn’t beg,
So purchased instead
And dived into,
And was so overwhelmed
How you almost withheld
All your flesh till it fell
Like midwinter.

And who promised you then
You would never again
Need to bargain yourself
For consent,
But who left the next day,
Leaving you where you lay,
With his peg to convey
His comments.

It was covered in rhymes
That were hardly in time,
Although one underlined
Was a verse:
“Beg, steal or borrow,
What you need for tomorrow,
And never dishonour
Your purse”

And you’ve lived by these words
Ever since, and reversed,
All the fears you rehearsed
In your youth,
And you’re still overweight,
And the hours getting late,
But your dreams are about
To come true.