Worth The Wait (Poetry)
22nd August 2021
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
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