New Poetry by Jason Beale

A Marriage

My wife is sleeping by my side,

I hear her breathing in and out

in the chilly, early morning air.

Now, after nine years together,

we coexist with question marks,

pinning down fears and doubts

as most of us do in our hearts.

That's life is her favourite phrase

and There's nothing you can do -

anodynes for the troubled mind

she takes as ontological proofs.

But day by day we thrive as one,

surviving trials that always come,

holding closer, each to the other.

My wife turns over in her sleep

and reaching out my hand, I touch

her warm arm with my fingertips,

thinking of something called love.

- © Jason Beale 2022

Jason Beale is a writer from Melbourne. His poetry has been selected to appear later this year in Quadrant and The Canberra Times.