River Goddess



source



Cigarette butts

Lay in the gutter,

The world took on

A grey cast,

As though all life

Had been drained,

Leaving behind

The hard edges of things

Man made.

I didn’t care,

All that mattered

Was that this was

My day,

My wedding day.

On this day,

I was a river goddess

Who lived among

The rapids. My dress

Reflected this.

My body was embraced

By a frothy lace

That gave way to a flowing

Skirt that spilled between

My fingers where I grabbed it.

No,

I was not going to be

A princess,

A queen,

A supermodel,

Or some uber feminine mystique

Associated with brides.

I chose to be

A river goddess.

And today, I will marry

The one man I can refer to

As my rock.

The one who stands by me,

Strong and resolute.

I know in time,

I will wear him down,

But in that time,

He will have calmed me down.

So the world can be

Stark and ugly,

With cigarette butts

And cracked walls,

But today this river goddess

Marries her rock.