In courtship days he was all gentleness
And gave her fragile heart that which it asked.
His voice rang Temple bells; in his caress
She felt the touch of angel hands. She basked
In beauty at the shrine of love and knew
A lilting, winging, mounting ecstasy.
Before the altar through a star-mist hue
She felt her husband's kiss, they joyously
Tripped through her door to meet: heartache--Veneer
Worn thin through nearness left him strange and crude.
She struggled through each disillusioned year
Her spirit trembling when his soul stood nude.
Her castle shattered but in writhing pain,
She gathered pieces to rebuild again.
