American life in poetry

One big test of the endurance of any relationship is taking on a joint improvement project.

Here Sue Ellen Thompson offers an account of one such trial by fire.

Wallpapering

My parents argued over wallpaper. Would stripes make the room look larger? He would measure, cut, and paste; she’d swipe the flaws out with her brush. Once it was properly

hung, doubt would set in. Would the floral have been a better choice? Then it would grow until she was certain: It had to go. Divorce terrified me as a child. I didn’t know

what led to it, but I had my suspicions.

The stripes came down. Up went

the flowers. Eventually it became my definition of marriage: bad choices, arguments

whose victors time refused to tell,

but everything done together and done well.