The List

Don’t forget to:

sit up straight, sip, don’t slurp

open doors, pull out chairs

mingle, laugh,

smile, ask -about her family, her holiday, her opinion of; the soldiers, the weather, what she thinks of Mary’s dress,
but –don’t talk too much or you’ll seem obnoxious,


yet talk too little and you’ll seem unfriendly.

tuck in your shirt,

black socks, black shoes,

comb your hair, wash your face

fake a smile, fake a laugh,
fake your love of the food, the house, her dress and hair,
fake everything.

Fake everything until nothing is real,

Until your happiness becomes invisible,

your love becomes imaginary,

and marriage becomes another item on your list of things to do.