Marriage is a Holy covenant,
Not a piece of paper handed to you by the state.

Ah, life!

Warm, beautiful commitments,
With God and each other.

Love, love, and faith!

Ooh, never ending!
Courage, endurance, and faith.
Endurance is a new discovery, every day.

Not always happy happy happy.

Where are the lively children?
Let us have 11 children, ha! ha!

Adventure, never ending.

Cry!

Making up is so much fun, like a rough family.

Pledges fly high!

Tears laugh like beautiful children grown.

Faith, forever, not even in death will we part.

Copyright © Ronald J Chapman All Rights Reserved.

Flowing out of every pore
Reconsidered by every nerve
Are the things we reject
And the things we serve
Chained by our emotions
Freed by our loneliness
Courage from passion
Apprehension from sadness

I know I know I know
I know why
I know why you are afraid
You’re afraid of another lie
I can’t I can’t I can’t
I can’t promise
I can’t because I’m not ready
It’s easier to be honest

Standing in the doorway
As my eyes ask the question
My heart pretends not to know
Who will hear my confession
I want you to forget everything
Forget yesterday and tomorrow
This is no time for hesitation
This is no time for sorrow

In my time of dying
Will I remember love
Or will I remember you?
I wanted to walk with you
Not knowing our fate
I wanted to kiss you
Hoping your lips would wait
Saving themselves
Not for loves sake
But for a mate
Who was as afraid of forever
As he was of never
Knowing the peril that lay before him
When loves fire becomes distant
Revealing the natural light of friendship
And the truth of our life together
The choice to accept our flaws
And our blind emotions
No matter how small
And no matter how great

I know that things
are tough right now,
you want to be a turtle
and hide in your shell,
make like a carpenter,
And build up your walls,
become a caterpillar,
and cocoon from the world,
in hopes you'll sleep,
a sleep like death
until you see a different tomorrow.

But what you dont understand
is on that day I said I love you
I made a commitment.

That i'd
knock
knock
knock
on the shell,
until you are aggrivated enough
to peek back out,
even if it means
you reply with a snap and bite.

because at least you will
show emotion again.

That i'd be like a storm,
and break down the walls,
to lead you out of the box,
and back to the sun light,
even if it means
you'll want to beat
my heart up with a hammer.

because at least then
your heart will be working again.

That i'd come across your cocoon and kiss you awake,
to show you the beauty
of life once more,
Even if it means you *****
me from your life.

Because at least then
you will be alive again.

On that day I said I love you,
I made a commitment,
to you and myself,
that even when things
got to their worst,
i wouldnt leave you alone,

even if you hate me,
even if you hate the world,
even if the world hates you.
I will always love you.

You speak so close with only a look
But I hear things from beyond the horizon
Safe
Imagined
Hopefully you
You became like a silent book
Full of life but waiting for my attention
For love
From me
To you
But am I a saint or a crook?
Neither for my mistake is honest apprehension
For how can I know
About me
Or about you?

my skin crawled with agony when the word commitment ran across his smooth lips
   the hair on my neck began to stand and salute the air, which had gone stale and silent
my hands frozen with the frost of mid-December, but sweat of the heat of July
   my heart, later to sound like African tribal drums in an important boy-to-man ceremony
why is this word death to the future
and why do i run to and away from it

While motives for the act are so far hid
and wiser souls evade me or say nought,
I struggle to account for what you did -
unkind of deed or negligent of thought.

Perceiving in my scaly coat a *****,
you cast your blow with subtlety and art;
ere pity stayed your hand or bade you think,
you etched a bleeding cross upon my heart.

And as that ***** falters to the worse,
sole poultice that would salve the wound escapes.
For you were both my soul-mate and my nurse;
bereft of you my heart grows still, then breaks.

I wish that in our bliss I'd used more care!
In loving you too well I laid me bare.

my love
it has been a year of sharing life together
waking up together
cooking and eating together

holding hands and going for walks
brushing away your tears
laughing together from our bellies

may these words be a blessing to you and me
so we may continue to live out our vows to
be faithful and loving as long as we both shall live

I am grateful to be walking this journey with you