Proposal – Tom Vaughan

        Let’s fall in love –

In our mid-thirties

It’s not only

Where the hurt is.        

        I won’t get smashed up

Should you go

Away for weekends –

We both know

        No two people

Can be completely

All-sufficient.

But twice weekly        

        We’ll dine together

Split the bill,

Admire each other’s Wit.

We will

        Be splendid lovers,

Slow, well-trained,

Tactful, gracefully

Unrestrained.

        You’ll keep your flat

And I’ll keep mine –

 Our bank accounts

Shall not entwine.        

        We’ll make the whole thing

Hard and bright.

We’ll call it love –

We may be right.

Source: Goodwin, D 2002, 101 Poems That Could Save Your Life: An Anthology of Emotional First Aid, Harper.