Congratulations! Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own.
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the couple who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look ‘em over with care.
About some you will say,
“We don’t choose to go there.”
With your heads full of brains
and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down,
any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.
It’s opener there
in the wide open air,
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.
OH! THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to great heights!
You won’t lag behind,
because you’ll have all the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang,
and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly
you’ll be best of the best.
Wherever you go,
you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because sometimes, you won’t.
You’ll get mixed up of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up with so many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with great care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget
to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
KIDS, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So, be your name Buxbaum or Dowrie
or Bassor Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to great places!Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So … get on your way!"

I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.
I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can’t help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple;
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.
You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.”

This marriage is a determination, to be sustained by love.
This marriage is an aspiration, to be upheld by love.
This marriage is an intention, to invite love.
This marriage is a quest, to appreciate love.
This marriage is a question, answered by love.
This marriage is a statement, to honour love.
This marriage is a request, to be grateful for love.

This love is this marriage.
It is humble, it is most noble.
It is most delicate and it is mighty.
By its strength may we be tempered.
By its gentleness may we learn,
And by love may we prove true.

Scaffolding
Seamus Heaney

Masons, when they start upon a building,
Are careful to test out the scaffolding;

Make sure that planks won’t slip at busy points,
Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.

And yet all this comes down when the job’s done
Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.

So if, my dear, there sometimes seem to be
Old bridges breaking between you and me

Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall
Confident that we have built our wall.

Facets of Marriage by Derek Rumpf

Marriage is like a diamond, many facets both dark and light
One thing to balance another, as the day does for the night.

The union of a couple is indeed a wonderful thing,
Yet remember the sweet and salt, whatever life may bring.

The perfume of the rose, brings to you an olfactory treat,
But the dishes left undone, can they not smell just as sweet?

The letter left handwritten, such nostalgia and romance,
The text message comes through, “Can you pick up milk by chance?”

Shouting love over the rooftops, for all the world to hear,
The seat was left straight up, “Who used it last my dear?”

The flower petals on the floor, set a scene with romantic air,
But forget them not those socks and pants strewn about with equal flair.

A gourmet meal before you, what a scrumptious, wondrous feast,
Yet mac and cheese with hotdogs, this still feeds a hungry beast.

One time spending money, on a wonderful, fanciful thing,
Another time scraping by, to escape the mortgage sting.

At home and trading stories of the goings-on of the day,
It’s time to do some house chores, “Must we get to that today?”

There you stand fit-as-a-fiddle, my what a handsome pair,
Now stand you soft-in-the-middle, breathless at the stair.

Vacationing in a far off place, with palm trees all around,
Working hard for most of the year, with no time to be found.

Yes, the union of a couple, is indeed a wonderful thing,
Yet remember the sweet and salt, whatever life may bring.

Whether perfect or disorderly, fair skies or fowl, harsh weather,
It’s all part of the program, you just have to do it together.

The Archipelago of Kisses

We live in a modern society. Husbands and wives don't
grow on trees, like in the old days. So where
does one find love? When you're sixteen it's easy,
like being unleashed with a credit card
in a department store of kisses. There's the first kiss.
The sloppy kiss. The peck.
The sympathy kiss. The backseat smooch. The we
shouldn't be doing this kiss. The but your lips
taste so good kiss. The bury me in an avalanche of tingles kiss.
The I wish you'd quit smoking kiss.
The I accept your apology, but you make me really mad
sometimes kiss. The I know
your tongue like the back of my hand kiss. As you get
older, kisses become scarce. You'll be driving
home and see a damaged kiss on the side of the road,
with its purple thumb out. If you
were younger, you'd pull over, slide open the mouth's
red door just to see how it fits. Oh where
does one find love? If you rub two glances, you get a smile.
Rub two smiles, you get a warm feeling.
Rub two warm feelings and presto-you have a kiss.
Now what? Don't invite the kiss over
and answer the door in your underwear. It'll get suspicious
and stare at your toes. Don't water the kiss with whiskey.
It'll turn bright pink and explode into a thousand luscious splinters,
but in the morning it'll be ashamed and sneak out of
your body without saying good-bye,
and you'll remember that kiss forever by all the little cuts it left
on the inside of your mouth. You must
nurture the kiss. Turn out the lights. Notice how it
illuminates the room. Hold it to your chest
and wonder if the sand inside hourglasses comes from a
special beach. Place it on the tongue's pillow,
then look up the first recorded kiss in an encyclopedia: beneath
a Babylonian olive tree in 1200 B.C.
But one kiss levitates above all the others. The
intersection of function and desire. The I do kiss.
The I'll love you through a brick wall kiss.
Even when I'm dead, I'll swim through the Earth,
like a mermaid of the soil, just to be next to your bones.