Poetry Friday for an Anniversary

Jeff and I will be married 11 years tomorrow. In celebration of that fact we are traveling, our favorite thing in the entire world. He mentioned it to me Wednesday as a possibility and within five minutes we had a hotel booked and were ready to go.

We travel well together. And I think that says something. We both enjoy the slow unfolding of the road before us. We spend our time talking, watching for wildlife, and finding images in the clouds. We take the backroads, passing through tiny towns and by huge farms. And that fits us well.

We're both quiet people. We enjoy the slower pace of life. Our relationship is a slow burning incense rather than a quick fiery match. We are the best of friends and good partners. We are both sure that we don't deserve the other. And I completely adore him. I love you my dear. This is for you.

i carry your heart
by e. e. cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Poetry Friday

Two posts today...must be in a good mood. But I just had to mention Ulduar last night and it is Friday and that requires poetry. So World of Warcraft and Poetry. Interesting combination in my head.

Today's poem is one of my favorites although I didn't know the author until today. My sister once read me this poem and I went to seek it out. This is Mary Lathrop's A Woman's Question. (I've also seen it listed as A Woman's Answer to a Man's Question)

Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing
Ever made by the hand above—
A woman's heart, and a woman's life
And a woman's wonderful love?

Do you know you have asked for this priceless thing
As a child might ask for a toy,
Demanding what others have died to win,
With the reckless dash of a boy?

You have written my lesson of duty out,
Man-like you have questioned me;
Now stand at the bar of my woman's soul
Until I shall question thee.

You require your mutton shall always be hot,
Your socks and your shirt be whole;
I require your heart to be true as God's stars,
And as pure as heaven your soul.

You require a cook for your mutton and beef;
I require a far better thing.
A seamstress you're wanting for socks and shirts;
I look for a man and a king.

A king for the beautiful realm called home,
And a man that the maker, God,
Shall look upon as he did the first
And say, "It is very good."

I am fair and young, but the rose will fade
From my soft, young cheek one day,
Will you love me then 'mid the falling leaves,
As you did 'mid the bloom of May?

Is your heart an ocean so strong and deep,
I may launch my all on its tide?
A loving woman finds heaven or hell
On the day she is made a bride.

I require all things that are grand and true,
All things that a man should be;
If you give all this, I would stake my life
To be all you demand of me.

If you cannot do this — a laundress and cook
You can hire, with little to pay,
But a woman's heart and a woman's life
Are not to be won that way.

Like an Old Shoe

The phrase "comfortable, like an old shoe" has been in my mind a lot lately. Mostly because Jeff and I celebrate nine years together today. When I've used the phrase to describe my marriage a lot of people take offense. They say that I should use more passionate terms. That the term seems to dismiss the marriage. I couldn't disagree more. Strangely the only two people who don't seem offended by this phrase are Jeff and I.

My ideal afternoon lately is to come home from work tired (because I always come home from work tired) and have Jeff and I decide where to go for dinner. Staying in is rarely an option for us, since we both hate to cook. We find a quiet tasty restaurant and go out to dinner. Talking about the day or whatever we have read or found online. A glass of wine and a good meal and suddenly I'm feeling better. That's when the comfortable part kicks in.

After dinner we...go home. And he turns on the computer and plays for most of the evening while I stretch out on the couch and either read or write. And occasionally he'll laugh about something and I'll ask him what it was. Or I'll read something interesting to him. Most people would find this boring. I find it comfortable. I get to do the things I want to do and he gets to do the things he wants to do, and we share the parts that are important.

I've always been comfortable around Jeff. Doors stay open all the time in my house. In fact that cat has no idea what to do when we have company and have to close the doors. We are ourselves around each other. And can be ourselves. Home with Jeff is "off" time. I don't have to worry about being interesting or fun or smart. I can just do what I want. Jeff has always said that the thing he loves most about me is that I let him be himself. We're comfortable, like an old shoe.

So baby, here's to you. And hopefully nine more years of comfort.