A Marriage

The first retainer   
he gave to her   
was a golden
wedding ring.

The second—late at night   
he woke up,
leaned over on an elbow,   
and kissed her.

The third and the last—
he died with
and gave up loving
and lived with her.

Copyright Credit: Robert Creeley, “A Marriage” from Selected Poems of Robert Creeley. Copyright © 1991 by the Regents of the University of California. Reprinted with the permission of the University of California Press, www.ucpress.edu.
Source: Selected Poems (University of California Press, 1991)