On Thursday evening, I was able to go with a friend and her daughter to see Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate give a reading on National Poetry Day.
It was held at the University of Winchester and, naturally enough was a full house.;
One of the poems was entitled ‘From Mrs Tiresias’ it begins with
All I know is this:
He went out for his walk a man And came home a female.
Out the back gate with his stick,
The dog;
Wearing his gardening kecks,
An open-necked shirt,
And a jacket in Harris tweed I’d patched at the elbows myself
Rather than fill up this page, I attach a link for the full poem here:
http://www.freewebs.com/carolannduffypoems/from%20Mrs%20Tire...
Please have a read yourself; it gives the other side to what such a change can mean to the partner.
It was wonderful to hear her read her own work, you caught all the nuances and emotions that the written words could not convey.
We all had a lovely time; my friend is still getting over having her picture taken with Carol Ann Duffy.
You can check her entry at Wikipedia here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Ann_Duffy
Love
Anne G.
Comments
There are two sides aren't there.
Oh my wife and family took it terribly hard. They'd thought I had abandoned them. My wife kept crying and saying, "I have a plan" over and over again. The children were all completely dismayed. None of this fit in the orderly little world of the Christian Fundamentalist that I had created for them. In a single evening, it all came crashing in on us all.
There is no resolution.
They have moved on; to what I don't know; we don't talk; and there has been talk of labeling me a stalker.
Perhaps it would have been easier if I had died, so they could get closure. Part of their pain is their own fault for assuming things about my new life that are not true. There are no lovers, not even one. There are few laughs, much rejection, and much heart breaking news.
I don't prance about in baby doll nightys, high heels, or panty hose.
The wife assumes that I have moved on to a life of licentious delight. How wrong she is.