Today when dolphins polish their beaks on the sea
Today when the seal chaperones its pups
Today when palms put on their red beads
Today when waves keep their promise to return
Today when night keeps its oath to sleep
Today when someone you love has gone
and someone wombed has been safely born
Today when mountains listen to the silence of the broken
and sunlight whispers to the waiting seeds
Today when someone arranges old age, long as a cloud
Today when someone inhales the blossom of a first kiss
Today let this hour bless you
With the smiles of friends let it bless you
With ocean-tang and manuka bless you
Let the vow of this day arc wide and high
Let its freedom and shelter hold you
Let its truth be boundless as the sky
This poem was read ten days ago at our wedding. It's by Greymouth poet Greg O'Connell, and written for his own recent nuptials. It was very generous of Greg and his wife Zoe to let us use this lovely work and add our own meaning to his images. The poem spoke to me, and continues speaking to me, because it acknowledges the fact that marriage is just one step in a cycle, but a significant one. I love the juxtaposition of the images "when someone arranges old age, long as a cloud" and "when someone inhales the blossom of a first kiss". We got married in a garden that Mark's grandparents had sown and that many family members at the wedding could remember playing in as children - very apt.
PS. For more Tuesday poems (yes, some are up early!), click on the feather top right.
2 comments:
What a superb poem! Of all those lovely images, the one I like the most is "when dolphins polish their beaks on the sea".
Thanks for introducing me to Greg's poetry - I will certainly look out for more of it!
Gorgeous images--each line is lovely by itself, but the rhythm of one line following upon another, like gentle waves washing over softly-sloping sand, builds quietly, generously forward. Thank you.
Post a Comment