Band of gold and shiny satin.

Bridesmaids chatter, parents sigh.

Look around me – can’t believe it…

Really mustn’t start to cry!

 

Yachts out racing, water lapping.

What a lovely place to be!

People gather, full of kindness.

Never thought it would be me!

 

Summer sunshine, warming, burning,

Stirring memories of the past.

Some things savoured, shared, remembered,

Others laid to rest at last.

 

Years of walking, travelling, living,

All alone and incomplete.

Dreams of perfect friendship marred

By doubts that we would ever meet.

 

Deep nostalgia, harsh emotion,

Hate, confusion and despair.

Need and anguish, empty love,

And anger that he wasn’t there.

 

Then unexpectedly, I find him,

Unexpectedly, it’s true.

What was good is even better.

Life is different – fresh and new.

 

Husband, lover, friend, companion,

Chasing loneliness away.

Oh, such joy now we’re together!

Oh, such luck he chanced my way!

 

I will work through pain and problems,

Lean to live with fear of grief.

What we’ve had is worth a lifetime,

Even should our time be brief.

 

Flowers, bells, champagne, confetti,

Boats and seagulls, sun and sky.

Life is good, and we will live it

Side by side – my man and I!

 

August 1988