When her mother-in-law would snidely
Remark that Sarah Rebhorn lacked something
In the fashion department, Sarah would reply
“When you dress in the dark enough, you often put on mismatched shoes.”

Truth to tell they never got along
The old lady so close to her son
They called her Sara Delano Roosevelt
And then, to add insult – well you know the rest –
He goes and marries her namesake

And it wasn’t for years, too long, before
Sarah realized he wanted more than her name
To resemble his mother. And though he wasn’t
Exactly the complaining sort, he made it clear
He found her a little bit, no a lotta bit, bereft

And of course the old lady was too shrewd
To add her own vitriol to the brew, figuring
A compliant son was enough to do the job
But, funny thing, Sarah wasn’t about to fold
Like a cardboard box, and she happily
Told him she hadn’t been born to shovel
His or anyone else’s shit.

So for years they circled each other
Like hungry leopards, growling here
And there but never disturbing the disturbing civility
That was her so-called happy marriage. Her mother-in-law
Would “suggest” and “recommend” and say things that
Began “you know what would make Harold happy…”

I know what would make me happy, Sarah would reply sweetly.

When the old lady passed she stood by her grieving husband’s side
And accepted the condolences of the awful and profound;
And not wanting to be a hypocrite she recalled the wise words of
Her own mother who said “if you don’t have anything good to say -
Well, you know the rest -
And when people asked her what she thought of
The old lady’s moving to the other side she simply said,
“I haven’t got the words.”

Sweetly.

Years later, her oldest daughter came to her
Said, let me ask you something, mom
Said, she was a bitch on wheels wasn’t she?
Said, Daddy never took your side, did he?
Said, how could he do that to you?
Said, you were miserable, weren’t you?
Said, he made you miserable, didn’t he?
Said, finally, the marriage was a joke wasn’t it?

And Sarah Rebhorn forced a smile
One of those little cat milk saucer smiles -
Shallow but oh so weary - and she said:
“When you dress in the dark enough, chances are very good
You will often put on mismatched shoes.”

10/16/2014

Posted on 10/17/2014
Copyright © 2025 Ken Harnisch