I remember my trembling lips
as I took that first step
and the family of eager eyes
That warmed my path ahead.

I remember your calming hands
That held me tight and steady
And the sweet whispers that shone
from behind your shining eyes

I remember the delicate words
Flowing freely across our tongues
And how the tears were welcomed
By the sea of smiles.

I remember getting lost in the kiss
And how every kiss that followed
Found a frenzy of flutters
That each shared a story.

I remember my widening cheeks
Feeling no force, but comfort
In the forest of embraces
And in the one that meant the most.

I remember the warm wind
Roaring through my hairsprayed hair
And not caring, but grinning
at the soaring sights as we flew.

I remember how we danced and swayed
and laughed and sung
And clung to one another,
savouring each second that passed.

I remember taking your hand
And gliding up the winding hill
Oblivious to the sharp road
beneath my weary feet.

I remember the sun that gleamed
Through the crisp cream curtains
As your arm wrapped me gently
And I slowly awoke

I looked in her eyes after I kissed her-
the moment before I died.
I saw the light that everyone talks about.
You know, the whole, "life flashed before my eyes light."
You and I were in our budding teenage years-
you 14, and I 16.
It was the day I said, "bye" before you left school,
and I chased after you to say what I meant to say-
I love you.
I saw my family standing around smiling at some-
Oh. It was us-
Well-
mostly focused on you-
everyone was looking down at your hand.
I saw you and I saying what appeared to be a temporary goodbye-
being ushered away by our respective best friends was the last thing I saw until-
I saw you-
I saw your face-
I saw your eyes shimmering in the natural light of the setting sun.
I kissed you-
Well I guess I kissed her-
Well he kissed her-
Now I say to you-
Here's to the new light to flash-
the new us to live
the new memories to make-
to an adventure far greater than the, "death do us part"
part.

It was my cousin's wedding reception,
And I wore some creamy lacey dress
That had to be approved of by my mother
Before I shoved it in a bulging duffel bag to endure the
Six hours of Dunkin Donuts bathroom stops
And that weird stop-and-go traffic that makes me
Feel like the color green.

As I stood at the brim of the dance floor,
Trying to ignore the half-drunk staggering relatives of mine,
I thought about whether it's
Polite to pry your eight inch
Torture-o-thon heels
From your swollen toes
Before anyone else bothers.

There was a boy on the other end of the disco lights,
A silhouette that I knew to be slightly more muscular than the last time I'd seen it.
Just about my age, or maybe eight months older if you had to ask him,
Which I had about thirteen years earlier
With some sand in the crotch of
My Gymboree bathing suit.

I tried my best not to look over.
The lights mostly blinded me,
But I still wished to glance at him to see how straight his teeth were and how his acne had cleared up
Because of
Neutrogena SkinID Plus
Or something.

I could tell that he was looking at me,
At the too short lacey dress
And my straight teeth
And my peachy skin
And I wanted so badly to peek over.

I wanted him to ask me to dance,
Please oh God ask me to dance.

(Of course he didn't.)
He was a shy kid, even at seventeen.
He didn't say a word to me all night,
Even though we'd gone to the beach together
Since I was in Huggies.

Wedding bells
The heart swells
A couple of people teary
Nobody here is leery
When it is two guys
Marrying after so many years.
Not an occasion for tears
They walk hand in hand
Toward a more grand
Joining together
Wedding each other
Now that some in society
See it is propriety;
Now that love is love
And over half the people
Know that couples
Are those who marry
And cease to carry
Their old angry baggage
Like stinking luggage
Into a loving occasion.

There is no reason.
Everyone here knows
That is how love goes.
It is between two hearts
No cart before the horse.
It’s a matter of course.
And, of course, family and friends
Not just kith, but kin
Are happy and celebrating
For the long awaited mating
Of two that fought the tides
And made it here where abides
That rosy day of knowing each other
Part of a couple officially;
Equally exciting and peacefully
Into a new morning of a new day.
What better way is there to say
I love you, a phrase not new
But this time said for two?
And certifiably, legally too.

I remember
school days
as the Beatles
swept America
our first kiss
sitting on
a playground
jungle gym
past midnight.
I had planned
that kiss
for days but never
expected such
lingering
sweetness
I can taste
yet all these
years.

Our wedding
the rebels
changing
the world
you said
kissing
was corny
so I didn't.
Afterwards
always
my regret.
They threw
corny old
rice.
I was
delighted.
Some pleasures
are a
complete
surprise.

I can't speak
To the power of a god
But certainly there was
Something powerful among us,
As certainly as
The water threw the sun
Back into the sky
And as certainly as
The birds rode the air around us,
Certainly I know this.
Perhaps it was
Our collective human spirit
Rising like the trunk
Of a great tree
Whose leaves were the fruits
Of our serenity
And whose branches
Were an oasis
To the birds,
As if to make clear
That even those creatures
With the freedom to be
Anywhere in the world
Would choose to be
Among us
In this moment.