It brings tears to our eyes.
We cherish the poem and the poet greatly!
Pente
There is a picture of you
Hanging in the vault of my mind
It is from the first time I saw you.
Strange how it is in black and white.
I was convinced I loved you and knew you.
I still am!
I looked at you across the breakfast table
Day before last
And took comfort in having known you forever.
I cannot remember not knowing you.
How arrogant is that?
Yet just this morning I looked at you and thought
I hardly know you! I have just scratched the surface. . .
Oh yes, we tossed around words, the expected words,
Cherish, always, for better, for worse, in sickness, in health.
We had no idea that time was already the enemy,
That we were already being swept along
In a very fast moving stream.
This morning we climbed out of the stream to rest
And dry ourselves off, wondering,
How did we get here so quickly?
It seems that it was only yesterday
We laughingly, daringly dipped our toes in
And the current took us.
We had no idea
How wonderful “better” could be.
We were devastated
When we learned the true meaning of “worse”.
We have known pure unadulterated joy
At the birth of our children and grandchildren.
We have let loose the keening wail
At a loss no parent should suffer.
We have danced with intimacy
And learned the rhythm of love.
We have learned to let each other be
So we can continue to grow.
We did well to realize we weren’t really in control!
We are still learning that one. . .
And so here we are.
How did we get here again? Ah, yes,
A journey of great sacrifice and love.
Moments of ecstasy and moments of pain.
I am here with you. Yes, you in the picture.
I love you more than ever.
Somewhere on this journey
I really did fall in love with you.
We must journey on together.
Another fifty would be fine with me!
Stanley J. T. Hanna©
Written for Lloyd and Beth Hanna on the occasion
Of their Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary. (“Pente” is the
Greek word for fifty.)
The following is the email (in part) Stanley sent with the poem
Greetings Uncle Lloyd and Aunt Beth
I have finished the poem and humbly present it to you as a gift to honour this milestone in your lives.
With love,
Stanley
No comments:
Post a Comment