Worth The Wait (Poetry)

He promised her a cottage
with roses round the door
he said they wouldn’t always be
so careworn or so poor

They’d scrimped and saved to marry
both were frugal to a fault
and so it was with blood and sweat
the wedding rings were bought

Their first home was a bedsit
rather damp and dark and drear
their landlord was a skinflint
no humanity — no cheer

They stayed there for a twelvemonth
then found an attic flat
a small step up the ladder
and they thanked dear God for that

though it wasn’t a rose cottage
and the roof let in the rain
plus the neighbours were so noisy
it drove them near-insane

Despite all of their problems
they hung on to their dream
remaining ever-hopeful
however hard life seemed

The years rolled on regardless
good fortune passed them by
as they penny-pinched to pay the rent
when prices shot sky-high

Then just when things seemed desperate
with income all gone out
out of nowhere came a letter
that turned their world about

A legacy — some uncle who
he’d hardly met had died
and his estate — a tidy sum
would comfortably provide

for future needs — a cottage home
red roses round the door
and thus he gave her everything
he’d promised long before —

that home she’d yearned for countless years
and though it happened late
the joy was all the more intense
well worth her patient wait