This poem was written for me on my birthday in 1996 by my husband at the time, Christopher Benton Phillips as response to my poem. Ode of a Housewife and Mother.
The Stubborn Wife
Nobody wants a stubborn wife,
I’ve heard that phrase most all my life.
My dad, my friends all tell me so:
A stubborn wife’s no way to go.
But I grew up and went my way,
Career to make and bills to pay.
Then came one day a little voice:
“It’s time for you to choose a wife
Someone to love and share your life.”
I made my choice – say what you may,
I did not check her resume.
She had a will, she had a way,
As she went about her busy day.
She made the bed, she did the dishes;
But she did not always heed my wishes.
She held her ground though it caused some strife.
I realized I had a stubborn wife!
More stubborn than the grease on dishes,
More stubborn than my mother’s wishes,
More stubborn than a finicky eater,
She never lets the crabgrass beat her.
Laundry loads by the batch,
Stubborn stains, they’re no match.
Garden weeds don’t stand a chance,
Boy, she’s stubborn!
She stubbornly backs me in my work,
And tactfully reminds me when I’m not at my best!
She stubbornly adheres to faith,
And nurses babies stubborn cough.
She stubbornly defends her friends,
Her pets, and family to the end.
And so in fact I’ve come to see;
A stubborn wife is what she’ll be.
I don’t care what pundits say-
I’ll love her till my dying day.
But BOY is she stubborn!
by Christopher Benton Phillips, R.I.P.
5/17/1996
