I am going to be my strange self here… usually I do not (rarely) “work” on a poem, it flows or it does not, when I used to try and do that I felt “out of the moment”, not a lecture on how things should be, just more a reflection of who I am and how I write, you? do your thing, your way, you’ll know it when you find it, and then lose it, question yourself, time will pass and you will come upon that familiar carved wood box, open it, and find yourself, once again, have a little faith, if you love to write (or insert other creative art here), the love will find you… tangent aside, whew, here is tonight’s entry, something I wrote for my cousin who is engaging in the union we call marriage, I don’t always like to give poems as gifts (and I am also giving cash, c’mon now folks I am not that guy), but sometimes the muse taps me on then shoulder and says “dude, let me get you started, you do the rest”… and so it began, this particular exercise, this expression of art… in two parts, I am posting the original as I wrote it verbatim, and then my re-worked version, thoughts and preferences would be appreciated in this circumstance, thanks (I have a few days before I have to wrap this up).

first draft:
for on the morrow you shall wake
and shall you now be bound
by more than words
beyond a vow
conjoined rings are merely a reminder
to remember the moments forever after
as you look into each other’s eyes and know
how you have arrived here
for marriage is just a word
the foundation with which to return to
is love
beyond ceremony, beyond celebration
in everyday life, honor with veneration
the very reason
for being in this union at all
for let it guide you
for years now till old
your love.

final (?) draft:
on the morrow you both shall wake
and gaze warmly into each other’s eyes
now, as husband and wife
in that moment you will know
you are inextricably bound
to each other
not by words, not by vows
nor twin rings on fingers crowned
for these are just the reminders
for the true foundation of your house is –
your love.

remember this, above all else.

notes… Feel free to borrow this one in lieu of a non thought out card (besides have you seen the prices of those things lately !? for a damn card ?!)… just lob me some credit if you do use it, thanks.

no music tonight… just some clips of a movie that popped into my head…