In the vows

In the vows, there’s a quiet place
the rest of the world fades as they stand face to face
the flowers and candles become abstract shapes
as if the windows to their world have been covered up with drapes

three feet across, two figures are standing
each other’s attention completely commanding
the rehearsed motions of this choreographed day
have relented to the sincerity in these few words to say

they speak now to each other, not to friends or family
we’re watching all around, but we’re not what they hear or see
they’re putting all trust possible in a language’s communicative sound
trying to capture a promise, for when hard times come around

she watches him repeat the words that give marriage its start
from paper to his voice to somewhere hidden in her heart
“in sickness”, he hears her speak of how she will act
if a worst case scenario becomes his own life’s fact

their eyes search each other’s face as when they met that first day
dispensing with niceties, committment is shared in a most basic way
all romance, music and poems, all courting is placed aside
because from the weight of these words there is simply no place to hide

so they stand, and in that space
for the rest of their lives they mark their place

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