To Nick and Tina

 

I will not be there

But I have visited the spot

And feel I know you well:

I think I see the scene …

 

A cool bright day without cloud

A nipping breeze that has the elderly clutch at scarves

And the youngest clutch at sleeves.

Cummerbunds will hold stomachs firm,

Coiffure will be ruffled, hats fly.

 

An aunt will be laughing, an uncle grave;

Cousins and nieces will clamber the dunes;

A couple from the city, or the desert,

Will whistle and marvel at the way the waves wave;

A grandfather will recall the day he and Jack

Smith came to this very stretch

Of coast and caught a beauty they could not save.

 

The sand will be hard and you will all stride

In unison along the glistening beach,

Black shoes reflecting the luminous sky,

Hands holding flowers to swollen hearts,

Eyes gazing wet toward the distant cliffs.

 

The smart will shed socks and bare-foot

Wade the biting waters, squelch weed

Between toes, feel the grit beneath feet

And watch for the vermilion starfish come ashore

To bear witness to your startling deed.

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In twos and fives you will walk your land,

Though the old may be slow and the young may be loud,

You will be there together and arrive as one.

Then before the sky and your clan

And the earth and each other

You will make certain a vow amid

Shards of light and shining rock

And swear fealty to love and one another

And be perfect on the shimmering sand.

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The Day You Wed published in Foliate Oak Literary Journal, November 2011