THE GONDOLIER'S WIFE What do you do all day While your husband struts the streets Or stands poised and balanced Above the dark green water? The oar transfers the power of his mind and body Into the boat's smooth progress Through impossibly narrow channels Collision-free. Who presses his immaculate trousers? Do you spend your days in some dark kitchen Washing his crisp white shirts by hand, While he, the master of water, Flirts with foreign girls As he touts for trade? Does he smile and laugh with you At midnight when he returns? Or has it been a good day for trade And the long hours of rhythmic sway Send him straight down into sleep? Do you share his pride, Love him for his skill, Or do you watch your neighbour's regular hours, And envy his wife her certainty and steady wage? Do you bask in his reflected glory Or do you long to be free Of the shuttered room and shady square And sparkle with him, like him In the world of sunlight and water. I have lived in Bedfordshire for twenty years and have been involved with women's writing groups locally and in London. I have had poems published in various magazines, including 'Upstart' and 'The Interpreters House'. Plays read on the London Fringe and performed in local schools, and I have just finished a novel. Jean Abbott

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