Thirty-first Wedding Festival with Flowers

I was sitting in Einstein Bagels one day when a middle-aged couple came in. She was using a walker, looked like she just had back surgery. Her husband followed her anxiously looking to catch her if she fell, and at a word from from her, he followed her to the ladies room, and held the door open. When they came out, I asked how long they had been married. It was only 12 years, but the husband said with joy, "I got the better deal." She disagreed, saying she was the lucky one. Marriage is like fine wine. It just gets better as it ages. 

by Susan Fox

Came home,

lemonless, bereft and without ginger.

I wanted to pout.

The poet was five pounds heavier;

Mattress didn’t fit. Time zoned out.

Now the diet.

We went to the grocery store.

You wanted to give me flowers,

but they were withered, wilted, washed

out and totally achromatic

Their survival was problematic

Darling -- already so many blossoms!

it was aromatic

like tea twined with cardamom  --

wholesome drink of the deity!

When I landed at the airport: Tulips.¹

At home, cleanups galore.

Wild Daisies:² dramatic wood floor burnished to a lustrous gold.

Immaculate laundry: the fresh scent of dignified white Magnolia.³

Lovely purple lilac:⁴ dishes clean, towels folded

Golden Chrysanthemum:⁵ bathrooms gleam

Golden Chrysanthemum

A dusty pink Camellia:⁶ shower curtains no longer green.

Dark mystery of the African Violet:⁷ 

Weeds, once one hundred fold

now controlled.

Finally, on the rusty red pond of the Marriage Bed

floated one white lotus⁸ 

pristine

New Birth

we convene.

White Lotus 

¹Red tulip: perfect love

²Daisy: loyal love

³White Magnolia: nobility and perseverance.

⁴Purple lilac: first emotions of love

⁵Golden Chrysanthemum: optimism and joy

⁶Camellia: the petals reflect the spirit of a lady, and the holder of the petals (the calyx) represents the man entrusted by the lady as her protector

⁷African Violet: Romance

⁸White lotus: Purity, Rebirth