Second Marriage
Featured in ‘Sunlight Later’
This time we’re walking, breath clear in the cold
the moon a sucked mint on washed morning skies
the trees on fire, bone willows burning gold
their flame reflected deep behind my eyes.
No fanfare this time, flowers or first dance
no favours, bridesmaids or a puffed white dress
just us, just silence and a second chance
to offer each our glory and our mess.
The world goes on; just ours, this light, this breeze
seed promises take root, my hand in yours
just ours this shifting canopy of trees
where in my old green dress this time I’ll roar
my Yes. To you, my second chance of grace
this time I’ll watch the sun light up your face.
An extra note
The sonnet is poem of fourteen lines that follows a traditional rhyming scheme of iambic pentameter - and is a traditionally used form for love poems. Here I used the Shakespearean sonnet rhyming scheme (ABAB/CDCD/EFEF/GG with lines of ten syllables each) to write a love poem, but perhaps not the love poem you might expect. This is a poem about getting married for the second time (during COVID-19 when we couldn’t celebrate with our loved ones), and recognising how much redemption was involved in the moment. There weren’t any of the bells and whistles that come with a big wedding (and that came with both of our first weddings) - it was just me and Koji (and thanks to a 40-degree fever, Aimi joined us too) - and a calm acceptance that this was ‘it’. Surrounded by the golden autumn trees and overlooked by a chilly winter sky, I couldn’t have been more sure about saying ‘yes’ - and it remains the best decision of my life.
(Oh - and we finally had a knees up to celebrate properly in 2024, so the bells and whistles did get their moment!)