My Marriage Poem by NAYYAR SHABBIR AHMAD

When I was young
Every Son
And his Mum
Had their eyes on me

And the reason for this?
Was simply because
I was stunningly
Good looking

My parents got worried
They didn’t want Cupid to strike me
Quite so early
They wanted me to study
So, I did
What they wanted

Then as the years flew by
And, no guy caught my eye
During my twenties
My parents panicked
And demanded
I marry somebody
Not just, anybody
But somebody
Suitably suitable

However I hesitated
I didn’t know what I wanted
Actually I did know
But it seemed
Like an impossible dream
So - I didn’t want to know
What I wanted

But once I reached
The ripe old age of thirty
My Mother got more than just tetchy
“That’s it! ' she harangued oneday
'Enough is enough.”
And ordered me to marry
Immediately
“But, there’s no groom, ” wailed I
“Don’t worry about that! ” she replied. “I know,
just, the man for you.”
“Who? ” I rued.
“You leave that to me! ” she said positively.
I looked at her suspiciously
Because, throughout our lives
Although we’d tried and tried
We’d never seen eye to eye on any thing
“Ever since your childhood, ” she swore,
“ you’ve adored your father, ”
“True” I agreed.
“So I promise you, ” she continued, “ - without further ado,
I’m going to
Fix you up with a ditto version of him..”
“Will you? ' I asked uncertainly
(I couldn’t imagine anybody in the whole wide world
being remotely like Daddy)
“Ofcourse, I will! ” she replied confidently.

So very foolishly I agreed to
What amounted to
An arranged marriage

When I set eyes on mine Groom
I nearly swooned
I certainly didn’t see him as my Mother did
He definitely wasn’t a patch on my Father
I should have objected
There and then
For I was marrying him
Not my Mother!

What I saw at first sight
Was defnitely
No delight

Someone dumb
Extremely ungainly
And very plump

However Mother found him splendid
She didn’t much care
That I didn’t much care for my intended
Anyway, she thought, I was just being
My usual self - difficult!
Besides, she was a woman in a hurry
She had no intentions of letting me tarry
I simply had to marry - pronto!


I hate to admit it
But she won the day
(She always did!)
So, the date was set and, we were wed
Then before I could catch my breath
In other words
Strictly nine months later
Out popped our baby daughter
My Parents were so pleased
Not exactly so my husband or me
For by then we were right on course
For a quickie divorce
But, it took so long
Everything that needed to go wrong
went wrong
And somewhere along the way
Admist the bitter accusations
And the harsh recriminations
My husband and I
Fell madly in love with each other

He wasn’t dumb
He was quite loquacious
When I got to know him
Nor was he ungainly
How mistaken could I have been?
And, did I say he was plump?
How could I have been such a chump?


Now, I’m glad to say
My jaded vision of him is no more
And, we’re busy
Living happily ever after
With each other
And our adorable baby daughter