You ask, what does it feel like to be married for 50 years

That’s a long time you say

To be with the same man

But I think, not the same man at all

First was the dope-smoking prophet in sandals

That I snatched from the jaws of a zen center

And introduced to family life

Who turned into a bearded woodsman with a sledge hammer

Smashing Chrysler engines in a junkyard

Who then shaved off his beard and developed

A weakness for vodka

Who sobered up

And became a teacher.

Together we

Went through a dog, a cat, two guinea pigs, three more cats, and two children.

For 50 years.

What a long long time I say

To be married to so many different men

I look over at him

In his current incarnation

You’ve got to change I say to him.