My poem for Janet… 'You Are My Bower' was romantic and heartfelt… this poem for Boo & Liz is a far more modern affair, reflecting the experiences and relationships of two 'Thirty Somethings' before they found each other with the realisation that theirs was a 'true love' and that they both brought with them a partnership that gave each of the other the 'Love of their lives'. This is what I shall read at the reception tomorrow afternoon.
[b]So, What Magic Happened Here?
[i]For Elizabeth & Rebecca On Their Wedding Day[/i]
[/b]
You can splay your fingers, stretching your hands back and wide
Hold them up to your face and locating the lifeline, start searching it for clues
So here you are, gathering inklings of evidence, provided by the pamphlet
Handed out at the Psychic Fair? fair game, a frisson of excitement, please take a seat
Small signs, little hints, suspicions of evidence, traces of confirmation
Look, there?s your lifeline, one strong, brilliantly curved arc of proof
Proof that you might live forever, forever and a day, forever and then that day
But what is this, at the very bottom of the line, almost hidden, a fork in the road?
What does this mean? A diversion, a subtle alteration? or perhaps a complete life change?
And beside that fork, the faintest of lines, a stretched shadow, doubling back
A lesser, shallow furrow? But no, look closer? both lines are actually quite weak
No, not weak? these are delicate but sharp edges, fine, fine lines as if cut by diamonds
These lines are twins; they are soul-mates, guardians of the shadow, caretakers both
And the shadowed valley in-between, is what you first thought of as the brilliant curved arc
But it is an illusion? for surely this is not real? Fortunes told through palmistry?
Not an explanation but an interpretation of your life, viewed by a curve on your hand
It is in truth a very few that happen upon and recognize the true loves of their lives
So it is that we often seek for love in the shape and form of kindness and care
Kindness and care and the commitment to making a marriage serve and work
No second best here, just another kind of loving, just as real as the real McCoy
There are many kinds of compromise that lead to strong and lasting marriages
Kindness and care, the commitment to making what they have to work and persevere
No fools, just old school, patience and compromise, tolerance, more than a little space
Children, Grandchildren, extended ripples in a pond, their kind of loving affirmation
Some marry too young, marry for fun, married in haste, little time for leisure
Then there are those who seek by the turn of the cards; that line in the palm
Hoping for signs that will lead to a place where true love will come knocking at their door
They come to trust in fate and wait? on destiny, providence, karma; kismet? serendipity
Previous relationships will have taught them the good and bad and that which fails
They know they entered each form of love with hope, longing and expectation
They try, they do but eventually they fail, as they drift apart down different paths
All chances of true love broken on the back, on the need and lack? of certainty
So what magic happened here? A brushed shoulder at the bar, a smile a spark
Followed through by a word or two, a tremulous recognition from one or both?
But hush but hush? let us not seek or pry too much, I truly do not need to know
It is enough to recognize that true love has found its mark and is ready to grow
Elizabeth and Rebecca? Liz, Becky (or Boo), it is plain to see that love has found
And placed its mark on you. Kindness and care aplenty, patience, tolerance too
And that precious mark of certainty; shines on all you do? But hush but hush
Let us not seek or pry too much, it is enough, yes, far more than enough
That true love has found you.
[i][b]Dai Crowther – 20th October, 2[/i]012[/b]
tom 12 years ago.
