Salty Stew: Aka Unequally-Yolked Poem by Nika McGuin

I don't know how much of this poem is real life and how much is a dramatization of real life. Is the speaker Nika herself or Nika in a costume? I have these questions because the poem has moved me so much. Everything about it - the stanza divisions, the metaphor of food, the accurate observations about relationship dynamics, the wistful tone which has neither anger nor forgiveness, neither despair nor hope. You are able to see everything clearly at this point, there's no room for self-deception or false hopes. And it is this clarity of vision which makes the poem move me with its truth becoming a form of beauty, that is, when all the parts of a work of art are totally harmknious.

Excellent. You may like to read my poem (Love and Lust) . Thanks.

It is a very frustrating experience. I like the image of the salt. It's a very moving poem.

i, unmarried as yet, happened to be 'looking' for a wife (for me that is) at the time. she and i ended up married after her divorce. our life together ended 9-10 years later, with the one child/daughter she 'needed' to feel like a 'real woman'. so in a way our marriage worked for her. i moved on, and almost 15 years later her coolness towards me softened, but we were never really friends again. to MyPoemList. bri ;)

(cont.) ............and he was, supposedly, afraid she would be damaged severely if he told her so. so they got married and about 5 years later (no children, thank goodness) the truth came out. i think he was relieved; she went on antidepressants. : (

i read at least half of the following, from Essence.com Feb,22,2011: What It Means to Be 'Equally Yoked' Aa Couple Holding Hands Equally Yolked 260 Jpg - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - i had friends in college (boyfriend and girlfriend they were) who got married. the 'only' trouble was, the guy decided after proposing marriage, but before the marriage, that he did not want to marry his girlfriend! ! ! ....(to be continued) ................

i like the poem and i love the Poet's Notes! do you know about this firsthand, i wonder. it HAS happened to me, at least twice. i think if a person feels LOVE for another, a romantic love, there is little hope for a close relationship if the one loved does not reciprocate. so i agree with you. as for salty stew, i guess it's better than nothing to eat! and at least a marriage did not occur under such un-equal circumstances. (to be continued) ............... bri :)

Nika, i think i made the same 'mistake' very recently, but i only thought about it AFTER i had sent a message on PH, so maybe i didn't; i didn't go back to check. i refer to using yolk for yoke, or vice versa. :) :) you use Unequally-Yolked in the title and equally yolked in your last stanza. i think you wanted Yoke..........as in a device connecting two oxen in front of a cart, OR big neck muscles. yes, i've had to do some reading. (to be continued) .............. :) bri