My Wife Is My Mistress Poem by Dónall Dempsey

My wife is
my mistress
& that
is how

...it should be
for she is she
who has command over my heart.

She laughs at
this dictionary definition
& asks me
if it is so.

'Lady...' I say
'You know...it is...so! '
'My mistress dearest...
hear my soul speak!
The very instant that I saw you
did my heart fly to your service.
I, beyond all limit of what else
i' th' world
do love, prize, honour you.'

She smiles
& shivers.
'Oh, I love
when you
Shakespeare me! '

My wife is
my mistress
and that
is how
...it should be.

Everynight we go
to bed
I marry her anew.
It is now
our thousand and one
wedding night.
My wife is
my mistress
and that
is how

...it should be.