Portrait of Hester by her husband

How well she has worn the wooden evangelist of the mind
I wrought in her.

He is fraught as Angel Clare
With honesty, with his latchet
Worthy of her.

When I am gone she will put him on the fire
As if he’d condemned her.

Notes:

This poem originally appeared in The Poetry Review. You can read the other poems in this exchange in the May 2017 issue.

Source: Poetry (May 2017)