What can the quarterback,
when he can no longer zing
a frozen rope , 64 yards, into the waiting hands of a sprinting wide-receiver
while his cheerleading, worshipful, wonderful wife
performs backflips and splits in the owners box,
do?
Brag to her about last seasons touchdowns?
What can the Philosophy Prof,
when the lust she felt for her stay-at-home husband
cools after she birthed their third daughter
and Kant and Hume can’t settle down
to a home cooked supper, anymore,
without terminal boredom setting in,
do?
What can the preachers wife,
when her evening worship partner
can’t even muster his version of the Lords prayer
and she knows that he knows something is wrong
but doesn’t seem to care,
do?
We ask,
who is this person with whom we
charged the alter
half a life ago?
How do we love the one we loved
but now they’re different,
gone?
To whom can we say, “I do”
when we can not know who this loved one
will be in a decade?
In a month?
AND THE ANSWER IS!!!!
We can’t.
Unless
we marry what this person might become
in twenty, thirty years.
Look,
we marry a fish with whom we wish to swim,
knowing she may grow legs.
And though she talked about walking on water
yesterday,
she’s come to prefer
strolling old, country roads,
today.
And broiling Salmon on the grill
tonight.
And THAT, dear ones,
is the gamble hidden in the wedding vow.
Can we say,
“I shall love the you
you might become
thirty years from now,
when you’re sixty three
and I can’t recall
the you you used to be
and I won’t mind that
at all.”
OF COURSE THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES:
You can include in your vows
a prenuptial, totally legal, ten-year-renewal – (or not) – option,
no questions asked.
Or….
You can walk back down the aisle
dragging a corpse.
Or….
You can walk neither up nor down
any aisle at all.
NAH!!!!
So,
since you’re sure you love him
now,
since you know you love her
now,
take the bet!
You can’t miss,
especially since you really like
the way they kiss.
It’s as good a reason as you’re ever
likely to get.
Poems by Ken 