Almanac Poetry: Her First and Second Husbands
[Waiting milk bottles. Source: Wikimedia Commons]
Her First and Second Husbands
An old schoolfriend of my mother
had a husband and three young kids.
One morning, aged thirty-seven,
he went out to get the milk bottles,
had a heart attack and died.
My mother’s friend took twenty years
to marry again.
When she did, it was to a kindly chap
in his early seventies.
After five years of happy marriage,
she woke to find him dead,
more conventionally,
in their marital bed.
Again, the day’s milk curdled in the sun.
(Acknowledgements: this poem first appeared in Monkey Kettle (UK), 2003, then in the UK anthology, Now That’s What I Call Monkey Kettle, 2005; then in my first book-length collection, Vigorous Vernacular, Picaro Press, 2008 – reprinted Ginninderra Press, 2018.)
Read more from Kevin Densley HERE
Kevin Densley’s latest poetry collection, Sacredly Profane, is available HERE
Read more Almanac Poetry HERE
If you would like to receive the Almanac Music and Poetry newsletter we will add you to the list. Please email us: [email protected]
To return to our Footy Almanac home page click HERE.
Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.
Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help things keep ticking over please consider making your own contribution.
Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE.
One-off financial contribution – CLICK HERE.
Regular financial contribution (monthly EFT) – CLICK HERE.
About
Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His fifth book-length poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws ... I'm Feeling Too Indolent, was published in late 2023 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
The Avenging Eagle sometimes refers to me as “my current husband”. Keeps me on my toes.
Hi PB. I imagine it would!