This poem was written the day after attending the wedding of the daughter of a very dear, and sadly long dead, friend of mine. I was single at the time and found the whole thing very difficult, not least because I was fairly confident that the marriage wouldn’t last, and it didn’t. There was something about the whole event that didn’t gel, that felt indefinably wrong, as if the two sets of guests were remaining separate. There was no feeling of a coming together, a marriage. And, of course, being mid-way through a very unwelcome and difficult divorce, I found the whole event extremely uncomfortable. I have been to many weddings before and since, but none has felt like that one did. Thankfully, the last four or five have been in the company of my wonderful wife, Sam, which made them much more enjoyable in so many ways.
Fingers, eyes and hearts entwined
the wedding duo drew the warmth
from watching hug starved souls
Their lodestone stroking
dragged those filings into lines in lines
and loops so closed to those
un-magnetised by love
Those serried ranks laid North to South
and South about
like paper cut-out figures
mobius strips of arm linked lovers
solid and unbroken as a wedding band
A palisade of pairs
all facing inward
for that special day
their unity of prime concern
And, as our focus, lovers
tossed above a roiling sea of suspect smiles
with tears and unvoiced consequential fears
swept along those polished tramlines
smooth and jointless
pure perspective to a point
Two families so drawn together
meshed for maybe just that day
generations stirred together into
blood rich wedding soup
‘Don’t they make a lovely couple’
‘Such a beautiful lass’
‘Lovely family’ what’s that Gran?
‘Nigel? no Nigel’s dead – remember
And Simon’s divorced
just like Uncle Brian, it’s a shame, yes.’
But they’ll be alright won’t they
NOT A QUESTION
just a statement
the confirmation of a dream maybe
And so those older couples
will draw a little closer
to re-examine life-tired eyes
hold hands like teenagers
though now with fear far more than hope
And, lost in a vacuum, sit the singles
smile clenched mouths
and eyes brim full of passive sadness
seeing truth through veils of promise
watching hope dancing
© David Hermelin 2016
