Poem on the Occasion of Katharine's Wedding to Anthony

Love
when spoken in a word, is much too shallow.
It says what the salesmen say
and finds itself divvied
between unintending pairs.

But this is something more
and now cannot be misunderstood:

What it means to say is,
There is an ocean of us
where we flow in and out,
back and forth,
over and around and all through each other.
There is an ocean whose borders end at our skin.

It means to say
no one else
shines quite like you
or inspires my heart to lift
simply by your presence.

It means to say
you are all the goodness and promise in the world,
the hope of life --
you are the challenge, the battle, the ache, the fulfillment.

It means to say
your universe is where I swim;
I am coated in all that you feel and want and dream.

It means to say, I will concede --
I will speak softly --
I will be humbled.

It means to say
I account for you;
I am your keeper.

It means to say
I respect you.

It means to say
I give myself to you wholly, unabashed
and unafraid -- because you
are my chosen,
and you have chosen me --

so that whatever balance the universe imposes,
you give -- I give --
and that is how We will be.