The baby triggered his pathology
(or that’s the way his arc appears from here).
Her birth engendered protectivity,
erecting walls that ceiled the atmosphere,
that met in peaks to close off light and air,
and when the breathless spouse declared them done,
the wound re-opened (one can see it there),
and he retreated then from everyone.

The third event, the final act or blow,
came masquerading as a benefit.
Inheritance allowed him to forego
all work, retreating home to ever sit
in sadness, though he found another wife.
And now it’s obvious – he wasted life.