Our marriage is old enough to vote now
and on this our porcelain anniversary
I vote “Yes, I do,”  over and over again.

A score of fine filigree plates I will gift us,
two broken to match the fragile times,
the eighteen days past the towers fall
when we married amidst grief and joy.

Our Noritake sacraments survives the bombings
of a blasted world, the cracking, fractures,
the buffing of our mistakes to a translucent
perfection, all frozen details rimmed with gold.

Cancer is etched on the lip, but so
is cure, joy, longevity, beauty, respect,
and the watermark underneath, our keepsake
forever, irreplaceable love.

(Carla continued to talk with Pedro in their bedroom. Carla said,)



''I thought that our communion will change me in better, ''
''What changes can you make in your thoughts and actions? This subject Sickens me, '' ''Beatrice is like you and I'm gonna let her
Marry you; I intend to divorce; I feel like a reject.




(Carla continued,)



It's wise to end our loveless marriage, '' '' our home will change because
You choose to change it; you have a kind of self-confidence,
Which is not good while I feel your strong attraction to me,
And your possessiveness hurts me; do you see the consequence? ''



(Concluded Pedro. She replied,)



''Sometimes, you're too passive and melancholic, '' ''I'm depressed.
You created an air of mystery; you keep your secrets
Bottled up inside and hidden from me; '' ''I do my best.''
''You don't take responsibility though you have regrets.



(Pedro continued,)



You are patient, and you take yourself too seriously.''
''The first thing Beatrice wanted to do was to make
Our tension go along with our life; she loves you dangerously.
I had to overcome the conflicts hoping that you would awake.



(Carla continued,)



I did all my best while trying to balance everything
We've got to live a happy family life, '' ''you cannot
Maintain your emotional balance, '' '' well, love is all or nothing.''
To achieve stability, in all your charm I have been caught, ’’



(Pedro replied. Carla said,)



''The woman must have equal chances as the man has
To communicate with God; much more, she needs some education
To understand the experience of her man, whereas
The man must understand his wife; '' '' you dance over separation.


(Pedro continued,)



The result is a lack of harmony in our relationship
Affecting our communication and leading to this
Moral misery; I could see what happened on the ship
Between you and Miguel, '' ''what happened? '' '' Does he know how to kiss? ''



(Carla replied,)



''Bella's relationship with God was too intimate and quite
Strange motivating Miguel to have platonic relationships
With other women.'' He smiled, '' you're unfit to be his mate.
Bella was a decent wife not needing lovers on the ships.



(Pedro continued,)



The bride of Christ is a believer of the Christian Church.
Miguel suffered because she couldn't give birth to another
Child; he's your victim, and you must be ashamed at the smirch
Of flirting with other men in front of me; you're a mother!



(Pedro continued,)



She advised me to stop being ignorant, but I've told her that
For me, it was very important to make my personal
Dreams come true; '' '' those cures weakened her to fall down like a brat.''
''While playing the violin, she felt so emotional.''



(Carla replied,)


''Her arms were sensitized, and she felt the deep touch
Of the Medusa while being scared because she couldn't swim.''
''They didn't feel the danger though they loved each other so much, ''
''Maybe she wanted her own death, '' ''she was so graceful and slim.''

(...to be continued…)

Poem by Marieta Maglas

(The Governor has obtained the approval from England to allow Ivan to bring officially the gold to the Russian nun. Pedro and Carla started to talk in their bedroom.)

(Pedro said,)



''Your concern for life and health means more than the pleasure to have
Expensive jewelry; '' ''Can you explain the new conclusion
About our family future to me? '' '' Well, when glaciers calve,
They become slowly icebergs- nothing else but pure delusion.



(Pedro continued,)



Beatrice knows me better than you; with you I live
A lifetime of conservative thinking; '' ''make me understand
Your relationship with her, when you love and forgive.
Being catholic, you must give up your sins, at the Lord's Command.’’



(...said Carla. Pedro was seemingly not listening to her. He said,)



''I've visited New Spain to understand its reality.
I get back home to make the change; '' ''It seems that the Indian
People have changed your thinking; I predict a fatality.
It's just a different culture to be trapped in our oblivion.''




(Pedro said,)




''Life, in its essence, is guided by the same principles.''
''You could learn from the Turks as well as you have learned from
The Indians to keep your thinking invincible
At least, the Turks are civilized; I think their time will come.''




(Pedro replied,)



''The civilization is created; the Indians keep
Their unspoiled ideas far away from the vices of
The society; Turks always need their wonders on the deep
And some unique ideas coming from above



(Pedro continued,)




To change something in the evolutionary sense.
Though you have been in New Spain you couldn't concretely
Differentiate the old world from the new world and, thence
You couldn't understand Geraldine's origin; discretely




(Pedro continued,)




You cannot understand the fundamental meaning
Of the life change; this is the cause of our separation.
''I feel abandoned in our family; while educating
Our children you leave them to come back with a new conception.



(Carla continued,)




You're an individualist to fight against me; your fight
Is fierce and I feel like I'm thwarted and defeated
Until losing balance, until the devils mock my sight,
And until I can no longer resist while I need to be needed.




(Carla continued,)




That's why I got sick; '' '' Beatrice is, in fact, my life partner,
But I have to divide my time between her and our children.
It seems that my responsibility as a father
Made me turn back home and visit New Spain, which is bewildering.''




(Replied Pedro. Carla stopped talking for a few minutes, then she continued,)




''Bella said that no one can separate that oath that was made
In the Church and reinforced by a lifelong contract.
Miguel said that the marriage purpose is to get the highest grade
Of awareness to infer the consciousness abstract




(Carla continued,)




Meaning and to have a high moral identity.
The evolution of the moral conscience leads to developing
The moral identity, but we may call it, for brevity,
A concept of consciousness in the communion of feelings.’’



(Pedro said,)



''It seems that we have passed this moment, and therefore I want
To change, but in a different way from Descartes, who tried
To reconcile, using a dualistic way to get in sync,
The idealism with the materialism when they collide.



(Pedro continued,)




You have a dual concept of love and an internal
Contradiction between the spiritual love and the body
Sensibility; the pulse of your thinking depends on
Your soul moods; it should be vice versa; you love nobody.''



(...to be continued...)



Poem by Marieta Maglas