St. John tells how, at Cana's wedding feast,
The water-pots poured wine in such amount
That by his sober count
There were a hundred gallons at the least.
It made no earthly sense, unless to show
How whatsoever love elects to bless
Brims to a sweet excess
That can without depletion overflow.
Which is to say that what love sees is true;
That this world's fullness is not made but found.
Life hungers to abound
And pour its plenty out for such as you.
Now, if your loves will lend an ear to mine,
I toast you both, good son and dear new daughter.
May you not lack for water,
And may that water smack of Cana's wine.
Author: Richard Wilbur
And the town is frozen solid in a vice,
Trees, walls, snow, beneath a glass.
Over crystal, on slippery tracks of ice,
the painted sleighs and I, together, pass.
And over St Peter’s there are poplars, crows
there’s a pale green dome there that glows,
dim in the sun-shrouded dust.
The field of heroes lingers in my thought,
Kulikovo’s barbarian battleground.
The frozen poplars, like glasses for a toast,
clash now, more noisily, overhead.
As though it was our wedding, and the crowd
were drinking to our health and happiness.
But Fear and the Muse take turns to guard
the room where the exiled poet is banished,
and the night, marching at full pace,
of the coming dawn, has no knowledge.
Author: Anna Akhmatova
A couple are wed
At a tiny chapel
On a country road
The guest are waiting
Outside to congratulate
The guest gather outside
only the wedding party
Are allowed inside
For the wedding ceremony
The guest greet thecouple
When they come outside
Throwing rice at them
When they leave the chapel
They go somewhere for photos
While the guest travel
To the reception hall
When the meal is served
A toast to bride and groom
Then throw the bouquet
With dancing music follows
(For two young friends of mine on their wedding day)
For Kacie & Blake
As seasons bloom
and wishes flow
Your love beyond
all heaven grows
As two, now one,
to recreate
What love implores,
and time elates
(Villanova Pennsylvania: July 30, 2016)