Naked before the glass she said, <br />“I see my body as no man has, <br />Nor any shall unless I wed <br />And naked in a stranger’s house <br />Stand timid beside his bed. <br />There is no pity in the flesh.” <br /> <br /> <br />“Or else I shall grow old,” she said, <br />“Alone, and change my likeliness <br />For a vile, slack shape, a head <br />Shriveled with thinking wickedness <br />Against the day I must be dead <br />And eaten by my crabbed wish.” <br /> <br /> <br />“One or the other way,” she said, <br />“How shall I know the difference, <br />When wrinkles come, to spinster or bride? <br />Whether to marry or burn is bless- <br />ed best, O stranger to my bed, <br />There is no pity in the flesh.”<br /><br />Howard Nemerov<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/young-woman-2/
