My friends thought David dreamy,
& I began to see him through their eyes,
as I never had through Mother’s.

For a man left his father & mother
to cleave unto his wife,
even as Elder Roberts would someday
cleave unto me—
finding his life in mine.

“Find a man worthy of you,”
David had said,
even as Mother told me,
“Be worthy of such a man.”

From Yankee blue to Southern gray
Mother had gone from a New England transplant
to a Deep South Mormon debutante–
her bleeding heart conservatism turning to God.

The Church had made me want more,
& I had to be more to get it all,
even though I wasn’t quite sure
I wanted what they considered “all.”