They met at a friend of a friend\u2018s party.
\nShe was attractive enough,
\nhe earned a packet, so they married.
\nAn almost idyllic relationship.
\nShe didn\u2019t enjoy sex,
\nand he wasn\u2019t bothered.
\nThey still had two kids,
\njust for her parent\u2019s sake,
\nit was the done thing,\u00a0after all.<\/p>\n
His weekends spent on the golf course,
\nshe threw parties for her mates.
\nHe worked in the city.
\nShe took classes.
\nLife seemed enviable. But
\nthe one thing she had always wanted,
\nwas a cottage in the country,
\nwith roses around the door.<\/p>\n
She argued that the kids would love it, So they moved to Devon. They were happy for a while The winters were the worse. Less to do, fewer people The worse thing was when upcountry, Calling the house, \u201csweet and chocolate box\u201d<\/em>, The village emptied outside of summer. They sold up in the end, They met at a friend of a friend\u2018s party. She was attractive enough, he earned a packet, so they married. An almost idyllic relationship. She didn\u2019t enjoy sex, and he wasn\u2019t bothered. They still had two kids, just for her … Continue reading
\nhe told her it wasn\u2019t practical.
\n“In any case, you’d be bored in a week<\/em>
\n with the lack of a hairdresser,<\/em>
\n and the stink of cow shit”<\/em>
\nThe sulks and cold shoulder
\neventually won him over.<\/p>\n
\nA nice place, small, but
\njust as she had imagined,
\nwith roses around the door.
\nNot too far from Plymouth station,
\nhe commuted. Weeks away at a time.
\nLuckily there was a tidy little golf club
\njust down valley, for when he was back,
\nsoon got his feet under the bar.
\nShe tended her roses, content.<\/p>\n
\nShe got involved in village life
\nWI, pottery classes,
\nchurch fetes, Am dram.
\nThe pub was good,
\nthough not really gastro,
\nthey got funny looks
\nthere on occasion.<\/p>\n
\nRain for weeks on end
\nKids underfoot,
\nor coming home covered
\nin brown clay, or worse.
\nThe school run always nightmare,
\nfrom autumn onward the roads flooded,
\nslurry inches deep,\u00a0ruined her Audi.<\/p>\n
\nabout these days.
\nThe village life tapered off.
\nShe took to an affair with a guy
\nwho kept chickens, ugly rude pigs,
\nand other assorted beasts.
\nHer Heathcliffe.
\nHe husband, she knew,
\nwas screwing his secretary.
\nSomething of a clich\u00e9, but it kept him
\nhappy to be in London,
\nearning good money.
\nShe still didn\u2019t enjoy sex,
\nand he still wasn\u2019t bothered.
\nSo sex and affairs
\npetered out eventually.
\nNo great loss.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cLondon actually\u201d,<\/em> friends visited
\nTalk of the shows, the gigs,
\nthe coke and parties
\nEmbarrassing them by
\ngetting pissed in the pub,
\nand insulting the oafish locals.
\nBlocking the lane
\nwith new Range rovers and Mercs.<\/p>\n
\nand \u201cOh we\u2019d love a place like this,<\/em>
\nbut Nigel\u2019s job you know, forever off overseas.\u201d<\/em>
\nInevitably complaining about the damp
\nand the drains stink,\u00a0and the rain.
\nUnbelieving of the hardships,
\nunwilling to compromise,
\n\u201cWhere on earth is your nearest Deli darling!\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cWhat the hell\u00a0do you do for fun around here?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThe church closed, the WI folded,
\nToo few for the annual panto.
\nToo many pots already.
\nWhen the kids left home for Uni,
\nand the walls echoed
\nto nothing but shoddy slippers,
\nradio 4, and the bloody weather.
\nHer husband away for days at a time,
\nthe bins filled with empties too fast
\nshe didn\u2019t go out, and the walls closed her in.<\/p>\n
\ncharming couple from Kensington,
\n\u201cJust a little pied-\u00e0-terre for friends<\/em>
\nand fun weekends away.<\/em>
\nWe love the roses around the door”<\/em>
\nBeen there, seen that, got the t-shirt darling.
\nThey bought a flat in Lewisham,
\nAnd a timeshare lodge in Cornwall,
\njust for old times\u2019 sake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"