The Woodpecker

Marriage is a process, not an event.

No sooner were our nuptials sealed at the altar
Than our arguing began shortly thereafter;
"Why should I worry about pleasing my spouse," I wonder,
"Since in an instant I can make her love me again!"
But 'ere we went our own separate ways,
This lesson I'd reason to ponder:

A bird pecked at an old oak tree,
And saw that it no wise moved.
Nevertheless she sat there quite confidently
And never once more proved,
Having assumed that she'd pecked it quite through!

No, fool! In marriage don't presume too much,
It takes effort to keep a relationship alive;
One peck here, and one peck there, isn't such
As what can make a marriage survive!

Labour to keep relationships alive
lest familiarity breeds contempt.