If she could
she would write sonnets
or dance the pas de deux
for his pleasure.
Hide the depredations of the years
with silken veils.
She would festoon her marriage bed
with smilax,
heap larkspur and lilac
and the beeswax lemon blossoms
for their fragrance
to seduce him.
But then she knows
he knows that it is only time
that masks her beauty.
His love has stood the test
and she is satisfied.
But if she could...
she would write sonnets.