Susan McLean

Knowing in the Biblical Sense  
 
When Abraham gave Sarah to the Pharaoh,
he didn't seek consent first from his wife.
The matters in her own control were narrow
in terms of her own body, role, or life.
 
As for his slave, he didn't ask or care
what Hagar thought when used to bear his child,
or when, once Sarah bore his longed-for heir, 
he cast both slave and son into the wild.
 
Though Samson told Delilah all he knew
about his source of strength, he never sought
to find out why she asked or what she'd do.
How rarely men inquired what women thought!
 
The women that they marry, lay, or own
are loved, despised, or used—but, no, not known.
 

Susan McLean, a retired English professor, is the author of The Best Disguise, The Whetstone Misses the Knife, and a forthcoming book, Daylight Losing Time.  She lives in Iowa City.