… and he turns and looks me in the eyes,
Unblinking,
Unflinching,
Utterly gorgeous
(no surprise) :
and from memory
he says to me

‘I promise to love you;
respect you;
protect you;
honour you;
to live life to the full with you
and be your MAN. Always’.

This is how it happened that day.

And I turn and look the Registrar in the eyes,
(take him, I think, a touch by surprise) ,
blinking,
flinching,
and am forced to say
(to parental dismay)

‘I can barely remember my own name today;
I will read my vows, if perhaps I may’.

And so I turn to my almost-husband,
prepare to don his wedding band
and through joy-teared eyes I vow, and say:
‘I promise always to love you,
and all that real love entails.
You said it. We know it.
I love you. Always’.


And ‘Always’ begins each day anew;
You always for me, as I am for you.
Stronger and firmer with each passing day.

I never thought life could have been this way.

A one-liner the vows indeed may have been...
but my memory fades in realisation of dreams.

By saying what we say
every single day,
I could have kept vows more simple for me:

‘I love you; I live you; I life you, D’.


xxxxxxx

Tara Sloblock

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/forgetting-the-vows/