hold on to each other—those others will go

Now, finally, a matter of something else, 

the delusions of choosing 

behind each of you, and those people 

you married or didn't marry 

also behind you, 

because you knew too little 

about love, or counted on it too much 

 

as if love could ever be enough, 

 

though without it, no hope, no renewals 

when the disappointments come, 

no passage through the kitchen slop 

the boredom and the bills 

to some higher regard. 

 

I've seen that good glow 

emanating unfakable, 

 

but the past won't wholly disappear, 

it can't, 

you're everything you've ever done, 

everyone you've known, 

 

and for a while, yes, everything, everyone, 

gets into bed with you. It's dark 

under the covers and it's warm. 

Hold on to each other—those others 

will go their ghostly ways. 

 

[Stephen Dunn {1939-2021} 'Now, Finally', from Lines of Defense: Poems]