About an Engine.

She says her love for me has limits
and that perhaps I ought to know
that I am verging ever closer
to clauses settled months ago,
(clauses that she implemented
regardless of my heartfelt pleas…)
She says her love comes with restrictions
and that she’s holding all the keys.
She says she’s spoken to her mother
because her dad was just the same,
“…it seems she drew-up regulations
before surrendering her name….”
She says that ‘men need firm instructions’
and that they ‘tend to take the piss…’
She says she’s spoken to her mother.
It should have never come to this.
I wash my hands to show contrition,
my face contorting as she nags
about an engine in the kitchen
and a large mound of oily rags
that are polluting a work-surface
where meals are normally prepared…
She says her love comes with restrictions
and that a war has been declared!