The Innisfree Poetry Journal

www.innisfreepoetry.org

by Shirley J. Brewer

Noah's Wife


She saw it coming, a catastrophe
worse than the awful rains, the flood.
A thousand animals aboard an ark—
in pairs no less—conjured dread:
a preponderance of fur and tusk,
goat odor in close quarters,
hordes of hippopotami, llamas, other critters
demanding stall service.

Her nose declared mutiny
long before she donned a chef's cap
in the ark's well-stocked kitchenette.
Breathing through her mouth, she fed
bleating beasts without complaint,
for Noah treated her right.
During the day, he spoke in Bible-talk,
lifted moist eyes toward heaven.

At night, snuggled under a quilt,
her man whispered tender words, made
the heat in her rise.
She loved the way animals converged in him—
one Noah was more than enough.