The Long Marriage by Maxine Kumin

The sweet jazz
of their college days
spools over them
where they lie
on the dark lake
of night growing
old unevenly:
the sexual thrill
of Peewee Russell's
clarinet; Jack
Teagarden's trombone
half syrup, half
sobbing slide;
Erroll Garner's
rusty hum-along
over the ivories;
and Glen Miller's
plane going down
again before sleep
repossesses them…

Torschlusspanik.
Of course
the Germans have
a word for it,
the shutting of
the door,
the bowels' terror
that one will go
before
the other as
the clattering horse
hooves near.

This is another reminiscent poem of Kumin's marriage, but this one has a lighter tone to it. The theme of jazz music sets the tone, especially when Kumin describes the music of four famous jazz musicians, Russel, Teagarden, Miller, and Garner. The word Torschlusspanik is literally translated into "door-shutting panic", which is the fear that time is running out for a woman to get married or have children, etc. This fear of running out of time to fall in love may be part of the reason why Kumin chose to marry her husband so hastily.