11 February 2013

A Morning Wedding


Penny and Alex married on a sparkling sunny morning at Berry Island Reserve, Wollstonecraft, with closest family members present. You can see the joy in their faces.


Here are the happy couple with Penny's niece and nephew and Alex's great mate, Mylo the dog. 
 Penny's sister read this lovely poem by Ben Okri, about marriage.

 Wedding Reading by Ben Okri
 There’s gold in the sky today.   
Saturn’s hand is loosened.   
And Venus with her rose  
And myrtle glows in the horizon.   
There’s a special conjunction  
In the air. Love has brought two  
Rivers into one way, one dream;  
Has sown the quilt of harmony.  
And scattered some magic  
Fragrance upon the sea.   
  
Love inspires many metaphors;  
But marriage inspires  
A single prayer that encompasses  
The future and many undreamt  
Generations. It’s not that two  
Souls become one. It’s that  
Two souls realise a common soul,  
A shared goal, mutual journey  
Into one another’s hearts.   
  
That’s what I mean. Travel  
Into one another, as into  
A country you have long admired,   
And read many fables about,   
And now find yourself  
Before its famed rivers,   
Its inspiring mountains.  
  
Exchange hearts, and become  
A little bit more the other;  
Shape together a magic life  
Of dreams, of ideals, and wisdom.   
In love stories they talk too much  
About love, but not enough about wisdom,   
Of common-sense like salt  
Or dew much loved of alchemists.  
Marriage is more than strong passions  
Or home of too many emotions.  
It is a house of royal reason, good  
Sense, kindness and, above all,   
Friendship. If for a poet I sound  
Prosaic, then you miss my beat.   
  
  
Be the greatest friend to one another.  
Isn’t that what we always dreamt  
About as children, and have spent  
All our lives seeking, in so many missed  
Connections? The ancients say that  
We seek our missing soul.  
I say we seek our missing destiny  
In the loving friend we seek  
For all our days. The one  
Who never judges us,   
But always raises us.  
  
This is what I wish for you two:  
That you live the fairy-tale  
Which eludes many, made  
Of the faithful strings of the violin,   
The solid wood of the piano,   
And the intelligence that  
Turns every night into a song,   
Every day into a garden,   
Every quarrel into a fine harvest  
Of understanding. May  
Your journey together be  
The adventure that life  
Was always meant to be;  
May you never lose your   
Laughter, your playfulness,   
And your music. Be the wise  
Children of the earth.   
Be fruitful in enchanting deeds  
And in futures. Be something  
Rare in this misunderstood  
Tale of life: may your love  
Help you find that hidden  
Gold in the unfinished hours,   
That your life together, long  
In years, rich in stories,   
May yield the tranquillity of flowers.  
  
Ben Okri   (Wild, 2

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