sweet love come gentle love we’ll stand before the altar of flowers that bloom on the arms of trees and with the fish in the embracing lake; and moss and soft grass on the ground and clouds kissed by the benign sun we’ll have our hands tied with vines together dearest love with flowers in your hair and for humor, grapes balanced on my head; and while squirrels watch from up the branches we’ll have little girls dressed as Flora and boys as trees and the choir will sing songs of nature and the birds will float lazy and we’ll wait till the moon rises and the celebrant will sing at our marriage and we’ll walk into the water and hug and kiss underwater and come out to be dressed with the ceremony of the light, myrrh and wine and stay the night in a tent guarded by guests who drink and celebrate all night and it will be such love and life sweet love the conventional world will say, oh let’s do our marriage again – a marriage updated in these times a marriage held in nature’s arms
companion picture: Etching of James McNeill Whistler's beloved, Joanna Hiffernan, who was his model for his three "symphonies"