Sorry it's late - a sick in bed kind of week. Still sluggish, so it took me nearly 30 minutes to write.
THE WEDDING QUARTET - SOMETHING BLUE
That first Christmas they spent the last of her paycheck
on rent and kerosene for the space heater,
only a few dollars remaining to see them to the new year.
She skipped lunch the day before Christmas
rode the el into the Loop and
squeezed through Marshall Fields’ shoppers
searched all fumbly frustrated fretful,
finally found him a tiny comb in tortoiseshell
for him to groom his unruly moustache -
a fad that year, those moustache combs.
He, the numbers’ cruncher, not the wordsmith,
fashioned a love sonnet in a fashion of rhyme,
rolled the typing paper like parchment
and tied it with a ribbon he bought at the Woolworth Five and Dime.
The miniature comb mingles with his silver cufflinks
and his Grandfather’s watch fob in his jewelry case -
their love long outlasting the moustache.
The worn sheet of fresh love’s promise,
tucked in with the marriage and birth certificates,
is still rolled tight with affection,
still tied with a blue ribbon, a sky blue ribbon –
a ‘sky's-the-limit’ ribbon.
by Bo
“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow.”
Mary Anne Radmacher