Photo by Alan Steed

Realistic Wedding Vows

I will abide your ego if you will abide mine—
If you ignore my awkward habits, I can exist with thine.
I’ll overlook socks on the floor or an abandoned shoe
if you promise not to mention an extra line or two
you might detect in years to come, scribed onto the place
where I hope you’ll still plant kisses on my aging face.

I won’t make you eat okra if you won’t bring home fish
expecting me to transform them into a tasty dish.
I’ll try to love your mother if you’ll put up with mine.
Poker evenings with your friends that stretch ’til dawn are fine
so long as you won’t rush on through from front door to the fridge
when I have my friends over for a game of bridge.

Stop and talk awhile. Get to know their names.
The sexes aren’t so different. We just play different games.
Our love is a given, so it requires no vow.
The things that I promise thee, in public, here and now
are fidelity and an effort to be the easiest me
that, given what your vows are, it’s possible to be.

Photo by Alan Steed

Hard to believe these photos were taken 31 years ago. Both the generous friend who took them for us as a surprise and the groom are now departed, but not the memories. We actually did not write our vows back then, even though we were both writers. I wonder why? I think it was because I was trying to coordinate publicity for a show being shot in Tahiti, planning a wedding and acting as the go-between for three house closings as we sold each of ours and bought a new house in northern California. The wedding was simple, but wonderful with surprise guests showing up from every stage of my life: childhood, college, Australia, old students from Wyoming, poet friends, friends from work, all my family from three different states, Bob’s kids and friends and even one lady I’d never met who flew in from Wyoming because she thought it sounded like fun. Ha. I’d sent out the invitations as an announcement, but everyone came. Guess they had decided this was never going to happen and they had to see the evidence for themselves. The photos are used as an illustration only and were an afterthought. Bob wasn’t a fisherman. I hadn’t played bridge since college!

The prompts: abide, ego, awkward, detect. Below are the links.

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/rdp66-abide/

https://fivedotoh.com/2018/08/05/fowc-with-fandango-ego/

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/awkward/

https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/daily-addictions-2018-week-31/ (Detect)