The Misanthrope's Wife

She was by nature warmly congenial
most comfortable when in the
presence of others like herself happily
animated by pleasant companionship.
Her smile radiated the combustible
heat of philanthropia this woman whose
wide clear eyes and incandescent
laugh allowed momentary entrance
to the soul of a lover of souls.
How strange that she feared herself
withering on the vine of matrimonial
rejection when she so ardently
aspired to motherhood. Leading her
to accept a surprising proposal
from a man her polarized opposite
so churlishly antagonistic to close
confines among others, it enhanced
his inborn passion for a hermit's
lifestyle. And she has gained the
knowledge that dismal distance from
others has served to isolate her in a
reversal from her worldview of agape.