Not so Happily Ever After

                   In the poem “Ever After” by  Joyce Sutphen she left a lot of clues within her poem. This allowed the reader to make assumptions, read between the lines and fill in the blanks.  From my perspective the poem is discussing the act of marriage dissolution or that of divorce has deep devastating consequences on one of them. It is described by many it as that of death. Emotions interplay profoundly and it’s after effect can be terrible. 

                  Though the poem describes emotions, it is displayed not by doubt or cynicism but by maintaining its intention of what happens when two people who loved each other at one time. It describes the changes that occur within each other. When I read the poem I can feel the sadness of the poet. Each line goes more in depth than the previous one. The poems title is “Ever After”, as most fairy tales end with the phrase and they lived happily ever after. However some don’t always end that way. In fact this poem explains the feelings that one may have when face with the issue of divorce. Divorce affects everyone differently.  Marriage is a commitment a forever promise. Things do happen that cause people to get divorce.   It is not always an easy adjustment for some. In the poem it mentions that they are no one to one another, just the word that goes in from which is ex. That line sends a strong message. Someone who used to mean the world to one is now an ex-husband or ex-wife. The reason of why they divorced is not listed in the poem but as a reader I am able to pick up the distance the author portrays. 

              The poem discusses sadness can be felt as it describes the distance, separation, silence and yet it also mention sweetness as it describes the layers of their lives as that of the wedding cake. The wedding cake is example of the sweetness that used to be apart of their lives. 

                When reading the poem questions of why ran through my mind. Why did they get a divorce? Did they attempt to work things out? Did they just quit? Was there someone else?  The poem makes me wonder what exactly happened during their marriage. She talks about being young and helpless.  Were they so young and when they matured they decided they were not compatible anymore. The lack of information did not make the poem difficult for me to read. The poem just sparked my curiosity of why. The poet did a marvelous job getting her emotion and feelings across through the poem. I was able to speculate that possibly it was an ugly divorce because of the way the poet states who are we to each other now. At one time they had the title of husband and wife and now they are no one to one another just an ex. It is a beautiful poem of a relationship even though it came to an end.