Sleet fell on that day and made roads slippery,
at the inn our room was cold and we didn’t have
coins for the gas metre. In a rash moment I had
asked her to marry me. Her family arranged
the wedding even paid for the honeymoon.
Went down to the bar to get some change, had
a few drinks and stayed as long as I decently could
hoping that she would be asleep when I returned;
she wasn’t. Clung to me she did and screamed,
which I suspected was for the benefit of other guests.
Felt sad and guilty because the memory of the one
who bore my child got in the way. It was dark when
I awoke, dressed, walked out and took the first bus
that came along; it took me to the coast. Got a job on
a cargo ship bound for Trinidad. Free, at last, of ties
and married life.