It’s been forty-two years since I met
My dear spouse. (No, we weren’t wed yet.)
My then husband-to-be
Swiftly said: “Marry ME!”
I agreed (making friends lose a bet.)
For my failure to date or to mingle
Made people assume I’d stay single.
I’d at best be a “beard,”
And to most I appeared
No more likely to wed … than be NINGAL*.
*NINGAL: “Sumerian goddess, whose name means Great Lady, the wife of the moon god…”
