Sharecroppers' child, she was more schooled br In slaughtering pigs and coaxing corn out of br The ground than in the laws of Math, the rules br Of Grammar. Seventeen, she fell in love br With the senior quarterback, and nearly br Married him, but—the wedding just a week br Away—drove her trousseau back to Penney's, br Then drove on past sagging fences, flooding creeks, br And country bars to huge Washington State, br Where, feeling like a hick, she studied French to compensate. br br She graduated middle-of-her-class, br Managed a Senior Center while she flailed br Away at an M.A., from the morass br Of which a poetrock-singer from Yale br Plucked her. He loved her practicality; br She adored his brilliance. Sex was great. br They married in a civil ceremony. br He played around, for which she berated br Herself, telling friends things were "hunky-dory." br Resentment grew... oh, you said "life"? That's another story.