Bridesmaids

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride,
So they say in a literal context
But what about the figurative sense
And the concubines, the loyal support decked out in
Garish dresses, noticed for that
While the one in white glides by
With the accolades and the 
Gifts piled high when she probably doesn't even need them
Anyway?

One must pause to question 
The salt behind the wanting
To be a bride in the first place,
In any case, 
For the sacrificial lamb is always white
While those behind the image,
Up to their necks in dirt and sweat,
Are those who turn the tides
And hold the lines
And make the strides to change the times,
While the wives, after their brief moment in the sunshine,
Are relegated to laundry
And crates and barrels
And a string of onesies and sameness
Everyday, questionably, thereafter.