Rajiv Khandelwal’s most recent poem to appear here was “The Poem Unborn” (January 2020).
My Wife
By Rajiv Khandelwal
To me
My wife is like the advertisements
The newspapers need to survive
My need of her
Is like the alcoholic’s desire for the 8:00 pm drink
Even her silent presence
Gives as much pleasure
As does short-lived momentary vision
To a drug-induced blind
She is the one I can always count on
The one on whom I can lean on
When I am pressurized
To me
She is like the oxygen-mask
To respiratory distressed fliers
She is the star Polaris navigating my life
She is as supportive
As the sleeping pills to a insomniac
In my life
She is the cloud
Without which there can be no rain
But she believes
All this is bullshit
It’s just like the politician’s populist subterfuge
Designed to impress the children
I wonder
If the wise can apprise
As to what’s with wives?
Lovely