The Ache Of Marriage

By Denise Levertov

The ache of marriage:
 
thigh and tongue, beloved,   
are heavy with it,   
it throbs in the teeth
 
We look for communion
and are turned away, beloved,   
each and each
 
It is leviathan and we   
in its belly
looking for joy, some joy   
not to be known outside it
 
two by two in the ark of   
the ache of it.

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