Epithalamion
A POEM
As puny astronauts set out,
Sheathed in their metal skin,
Exploring vastnesses without,
So do a man and his new wife begin
Their darksome journey round about
The galaxies within.
We’re told of two becoming one
And so of sharing pain
That one will feel what was begun
As the other’s loss or private gain:
But who will think it’s quickly done
Or easy to maintain?
Yet mysteries await the pair
As near the speed of light
They circumnavigate the air —
Miraculous, rejuvenating flight
That brings them younger back to where
They wait the coming night.
Who can resolve this mystery
Or sleight-of-hand divine
Where quicker than the body’s eye
Two tangled, self-propelling hearts align
Themselves and thus renewing fly
In a clean, straight line?
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Williams knew how bored, self-centered, and self-indulgent the rich can be, and how desperately confused, vulnerable, and self-lacerating the poor often are.