Pas de Deux

A poem about coupledom, prompted by low mood during Lockdown, July 2020.

Pas de Deux

I tiptoe round your moods, and you round mine.
Our pas de deux has lasted many years.
It’s all right, yes, the two of us are fine.

So long as both of us can toe the line,
So long as each is nifty with the gears,
I’ll tiptoe round your moods, and you round mine.

Take heart. Let’s drink another glass of wine.
No need — at least not yet — for bitter tears.
It’s all right now, the two of us are fine.

Do not cajole me first and then repine,
Manipulations born of childish fears.
I’ll tiptoe round your moods, and you round mine.

Oh, leave behind the tangled twisted twine
In which you knot our lives and our careers.
It’s all right now, the two of us are fine.

The years file past, the two of us decline.
A limit has been set; dread disappears.
I’ll tiptoe round your moods, and you round mine:
It’s all right now, the two of us are fine.