Yoked

(in contemplation of thirty-five years)

These days you and I

move forward in easy step,

our common yoke our common dream

we lean into together

The unutterable magnitude

of our aspiration

leaves us often in silence,

or we talk of tasks and plans

as if those were the sum of our engagement

But our hope, laced far too often

with the fear we will not speak

binds us more deeply

than years, than memories —

in some moments we may fathom

we are closer than as one

our life together

less choice than destiny.

©Wendy Mulhern

September 26, 2017