A Funny Tale of a Crazy Couple

                         

                         

                 

1        Jacob worked once as a librarian for forty years

        Full forty years he spent in a dust-ridden cell cold

        Surrounded by so many books and journals old

        He spent his time sitting silently in a nook

        Accustomed to musty smell of old bulky books

        He had not read them nor even had a look

        He dozed off so many years in dismal silence

        Now he is retired, but felt no difference.

 

2       His wife Jane an ambitious woman and wise

Found her husband did nothing but sleep day and night

He is too dull and unresponsive to know about his plight

Whatever he did seemed to her vain and imprecise

She could not bear his lazy and idle presence

He is a good-for-nothing bloke lacking common sense

She scanned his every act with ten thousand eyes

Faulting his every move like a spy in disguise.

 

3       If he stands still and views with vacant looks 

She shouts, “Why do you stand like a stone?

If he sits and looks at stars alone

She shouts, “why do you sit like a duck in the nook;

Whatever he mumbles, she never cares to hear

Too much used to her harsh words, he tried not to clear

Her doubts; his stubborn silence provoked her more

Stone deaf to her abuse he remained as before.

 

4       Very rarely he engaged himself in verbal fight

With his spouse but could not get success;

Before her sharp-piercing volley of curses

Which cut into his heart and made him retreat with fright

But both their lives are welded together and now

They can’t escape whether they hate or love

Fixed like the legs of a measuring compass;

They have to bear with each other, gain or loss.

 

5       Like a panther hiding behind, with stretched claws

Looking for a chance she used to watch and wait;

Or like a fisherman waiting for his catch with his bait

Ever ready to pounce on him to pick out his flaws

He too waited like a confounded hare to escape

With shy smiles, to keep himself in good shape;

As she did not hesitate to dress him down

To save his status he kept mum and did not frown. 

 

6       Others derived delight by their dramatic fight

A merry comic scene for them without expense;

Lack of understanding and mutual trust made them tense

They did not know how they lost their image bright

Lack of communication skills and mutual respect

Made them too critical, fault-finding and suspect

The crazy couple never thought how they lost

Their respect when they cursed without forethought.

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  17th December 2025                      Somaseshu Gutala