The Wood Anniversary
What did couples exchange and receive
After five years of marriage?
Wood, I’m told, is traditional.
Though the more modern option is silverware.
I will buy you neither tree nor table.
No carving or picture frame or flooring.
No fence, no log, no splint, no walking stick,
No whittling of your likeness,
No cedar chest, no teak armoire,
And certainly, no knives and forks and spoons.
Instead, I give you this:
A cross section of our daily sleeping and waking
And the small acts that give it shape—
An extended hand on our way to the car,
The ridiculous songs we sing on the way
To work, our cats, our old photo albums,
Our maddening, unflagging lack of a camera.
My parents received a piano
On their fifth. This song is what I have for us,
A seed, a tangle of roots, a nest balanced high on a branch.
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absolutely beautiful! Happy anniversary dear :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful poem. Beautiful bride. Beautiful couple. Happy anniversary to the dearest couple to my heart.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful. I wish you had written this poem 12 years ago. I would have rather given it to my weasel than the wooden frame that was a symbol of our five years.
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary!
mmmmm, this is one of my faves in while. It's romantic, aged and beautiful like a wine and yet somehow (I don't know, maybe I bring my own baggage to it..) it has a sorrowful tinge to it.
ReplyDeletehauntingly lovely.
thea.
xx
oh this is gorgeous!
ReplyDelete"i will buy you neither tree nor table"
oh man. oh geez. good grief, you're good at this! good, great, wonderful, a big ol' blessing.
:)
"This song is what I have for us" These words ache with joy. What a splendid poem!
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