Pushed

 He pushed

He pushed and pushed ‘til nothing’s left

No oxygen remained, no room for doubt

Strong as an oak but when he crashed

The noise was heard across the forest. 

He couldn’t yield a single inch 

She beseeched him without success 

Until one day her patience snapped

She took not an inch but a country mile. 

A shock but no surprise 

To her friends and those who knew

‘Beware the anger of the patient woman’

As he strived to understand. 

Concessions offered were discarded 

‘Too little too late’ was all she said

As she fled to Cyprus with a friend 

No fences then for him to mend. 

In wanting all, he’s left with nothing

In denying all she’s taken everything

She won’t look back on sultry evenings

When the sun sets over the azure sea. 

Glad to be freed at last from husband 

And from conscience, floating gently

On the rise and fall of warm waters 

Of the Levantine, peace at last.