A scene from Married Life

This poem is about a couple who squabble, he then has a period of reflection, cools off then they both renew their love for one another. "a dead bird eaten by the early worm" implies that he did not prepare for the break up and also did not put the effort in to start with to make up again. "I crawled to the shore" suggests that he is trying to seek forgiveness from his wife. He talks about having his "own cold wars during the real Cold War were few and brief" suggesting they did not usually argue but if they did, they would soon make up. The key themes in this poem is love and loss, to start with the love is there but not shown but by the end when the made up, they expressed there love. The "ghosts" could imply the past but the love for his wife will never end.