It was my decision they said when
they came with wringing hands
and word of yet unspoken
but newly broken vows
sundered by a shadow
planting seed in the soil
where mine should be,
but they hoped I’d understand.
Of course of course I said
and why not take to wife
the one who had not shied
from the advance of another?
No angel came to prick my heart
and prod my thoughts or
unfold the vaunted plan.
It was my decision to keep her
alive so that after she was his
she would be mine.
© Dana Hughes 2.13.16
Furthermore... 
How amazing, Dana! Such a reverent and mysterious and very human exploration of Joseph’s point of view. So sensitive to the ways in which we ourselves are almost always caught up in purposes larger than we can fathom.
“so that after she was his / she would be mine.” Joseph as second husband. What a realistic, modern, very mundane way to view the story. And what a fascinating comment on the love of Joseph for Mary. There is the odd sort of resolve mixed with reservation here, and so little of the ego that seems so often to dominate our most intimate relationships. Thanks for this.