"Ever After" by Joyce Sutphen

“Ever After” by Joyce Sutphen had me questioning her poem the entire time. It had me confused, emotional, sad, and heartbroken in the beginning and just wondering what was going on. This poem aroused curiosity and also intrigued me to write about it was of the fact that her poem is so depressing in the beginning and then in the end it is a happily ever after moment. It had me thinking, did they break up or did they get married? I also had me thinking as if it was some kind of form of princess fairy tale story/poem.

In her poem she states repeatedly, “what am I to you now..” which personally had me thinking her and perhaps a boyfriend went their different ways. As I continue reading this poem, in every stanza she states her and her boyfriend or ex-boyfriend as two different people, not as us or we, but you and me. And what also had me thinking this idea of them separating was after reading stanza four which states, “Unrelated persons except for that ex- that goes in front of the words.” This stanza using the term “EX” and how the author implies it and states it in her sentence/stanza gave me a confirmation of them splitting but then once again my thought of the meaning of this poem completely changed as I continued.

As I thought I had figured out what was happening in this poem, that thought was changed once more. Continuing my reading the author states the words husband, wife, our hands clasped, and tall white cake, throwing me off into a whole different train of thought. I had no idea what was going on in this poem, until it hit me. Perhaps the author was implying her and her boyfriend as two different people in the beginning to show readers how that “me” and “you” are joining together, giving each other a whole different title to one another, husband and wife. “Our hands clasped” referring to them cutting that “tall white cake” implies that this couple just married and are cutting their cake to share and give out to those who want a piece.

What came to my conclusion is that maybe the author in the beginning of the poem was asking all those questions of who are they to each other and what is she to him, questioning him basically asking him if she still as important as she was before or am I more? What are they to each other, husband and wife, two separate individuals? Her starting out her poem this way confusing the readers but then coming to an ending of them having that husband-wife title, cutting their cake and having the ever after as one.