The Test Of Aphrodite

She protects our bed
in spite of all Her envy
at our passions,
for in the end
no jealous anger can contend
with the joy She feels at our joining
and the pleasures we
give willingly to Her.

Sometimes She rages,
rapt in fury at the love
She knows but cannot have
from us,
and on these times of Her enraging
She throws temptation in my path,
a curving smile and willing body,
a touch of lust
offering to me
the promise of an ecstasy
undreamed
through years of faithfulness.

In truth, there have been times
when I have wondered what those
instances of fleeting pleasure
might unfold,
what-ifs and maybes taking hold
in surrender to desires that She
pours into me,
and I can feel Her testing gaze
laying bare the secrets I don't dare
share with anyone beyond the two of us
and Her.

But those times are old;
the bed I share is your's
and no one else's,
for in the midst of wondering
I find strength -
tempered by temptations
that She tests me with -
as the love I have for you,
what we've made,
and what we share.

For in those times
when you and I are lost
joyous
within the timelessness
of thrusting ecstasy,
and after,
when my world has once more
become
everything you are
She knows how much I love Her
for the strength She gives me
to utterly reject betrayal
of the one I love,
the life I live,
and the husband
I am proud to be.