The Deceived

by Cheryl Merrick

And so the man and the woman,
Longing for love,
give all but themselves.
Living out their lives
shrouded in mantles of self pity.

Lacking faith in themselves, their partner, and The Lord,
They withdraw from each other.
Anxiously justifying their actions
with endless lists of their mate’s imperfections.


Close but never touching,
they settle for mere “peaceful co-existence”,
Living parallel lives
filled only with
resented submissiveness
and begrudged service.

Insulated from pain and feeling,
they care for home, raise children,
and fill years with “diligent” work.
Each striving, separately,
to grasp their own happiness.

Fearing to instigate change,
they wait without hope
for happiness to be presented to them,
like an unearned gift,
When the other changes.

Seeing oneness as mere jostling in a power game,
they allow their fear and pride
to blot out the power of the Lord in their marriage,
Missing the joy of uniting their will with His.

And so step by self-concerned step,
the man and the woman
are led carefully away from each other,
til at last, deceived,
they give up the power
to continue their marriage
throughout eternity.