Getting Married Justice of the Peace Style at Turtle Pond

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Philadelphia residents Nina and Richie contacted me with less than a week to spare before their elopement.  They still managed to select their vows and pick a fantastic poem, which was a wonderful way to personalize their ceremony with such a limited time frame.

You can read more about their elopement by visiting A Practical Wedding, which recently featured their nuptials.

“Glaucoma” by Rives

When you and I
are old and grey…

I’ll have a belly,
a hound dog named Shakespeare
and a pickup truck.

You will have
a pretty cotton dress
and glaucoma,
which will steal your sight.
And you’ll stand on our porch in the morning
with your face to the sky,
and I’ll come outside
with the birdseed or something, going:
“Whoa, whoa, baby–don’t stare
right into the sun like that!”

And you’ll say:
“Oh, you old poop!
I may be blind, but I’m not a dope…
I’m a heliotrope.
That’s a fancy word for sunflower,
if you don’t remember!”

And I’ll go:
“Awwwww–I know heliotrope, hell…
I invented it!”

And then I’ll whisper: “Hey.
The yonder is just as wild and blue
as people say it is today.
And you can’t see, but…
I haven’t done yard work for weeks.
The crabgrass is practically piggyback
on the buttercups, Buttercup,
but I love you. I love you.
And I’m gonna keep you mine
like a crow loved to hold
an old telephone line, remember those?”

And you’ll say:
“What, crows?”

And I’ll go:
“Nahhh–telephone lines.
Remember? Back in the days
when the bedding was yours
but the bed was mine.
You remember that, Sunshine?”

And then I’ll shuffle back indoors,
bent but still feisty,
and I’ll do what I always do.

I’ll lie on the floor
with a scrap, and a pen,
I’ll write a poem,
describe the rest of the day for you

you blind, old…