[Newspoetry] Peggy Adams

[DL Emerick]

Temptations

One that I resisted,
that I did not yield to,
ah, maybe I should have,
was the daughter of a rich farmer,
hundreds of acres, many cows,
and his only daughter,
homely, as weed in a flower garden,
with no talents except to be a good wife.

Oh, she was a hard worker,
what we'd call a technical success,
but she inspired no love in me.

Her dad would call me up,
have me come over to the farm
and work all day, sweating,
and then in the evening,
set before me a delicious meal,
and sweet talk me through it all.

but, ever present, while I worked,
there'd be his daughter,
and the farmer would leave us alone,
in the middle of the afternoon,
and he hoped I see her sweating,
her blouse soaking from the labor,
how she'd loosen a few buttons,
to let out the heat,
how she wriggled and maneuvered,
how she was a kind co-worker companion,
not necessarily fun, but pleasant,
and she was all of that,
and it was almost sexy, appealing,
especially to my virginal young self.

Oh, I could have had all of that,
whatever it was, a large successful farm,
if I had wanted the farmer's daughter,
and, as much as I love farming,
I wanted a lot more than than the dirt,
I wanted a lot more than her.

Now, years later,
I think, what sort of fool was I?
Her body was as good as any other,
and she would have worshipped me,
like a god, from Olympus,
because I was so far beyond her,
and I could have had a comfortable life,
if I had only wanted that back then,
or at any time, really.