marriage is on the brain...

...and so are happiest wishes and congratulations to two wonderful couples--

four people with some of the kindest hearts I know.

----

The Kama Sutra of Kindness: Position Number 3

by Mary Mackey

It's easy to love

through a cold spring

when the poles

of the willows

turn green

pollen falls like

a yellow curtain

and the scent of 

Paper Whites

clots

the air



but to love for a lifetime

takes talent



you have to mix yourself

with the strange

beauty of someone

else

wake each morning

for 72,000
mornings in

a row so

breathed and

bound and 

tangled

that you can hardly

sort out

your arms

and 


legs



you have to

find forgiveness

in everything

even ink stains

and broken

cups



you have to be willing to move through

life

together

the way the long

grasses move

in a field

when you careen

blindly toward

the other

side



there's never going to be anything

straight or predictable

about your path

except the 

flattening

and the springing

back



you just go on walking for years

hand in hand

waist deep in the weeds

bent slightly forward

like two question

marks


and all the while it


burns 

my dear

it burns beautifully above

you

and goes on
burning

like a relentless

sun

-----------------------------

This post is part of a series in honor of National Poetry Month. I hope it brings you a little joy, a little peace, or just a little something you didn't know you were looking for. :)