The Wedding Vow Poem by Sharon Olds
The Wedding Vow
I did not stand at the altar, I stood
at the foot of the chancel steps, with my beloved,
and the minister stood on the top step
holding the open Bible. The church
was wood, painted ivory inside, no people—God's
stable perfectly cleaned. It was night,
spring—outside, a moat of mud,
and inside, from the rafters, flies
fell onto the open Bible, and the minister
tilted it and brushed them off. We stood
beside each other, crying slightly
with fear and awe. In truth, we had married
that first night, in bed, we had been
married by our bodies, but now we stood
in history—what our bodies had said,
mouth to mouth, we now said publicly,
gathered together, death. We stood
holding each other by the hand, yet I also
stood as if alone, for a moment,
just before the vow, though taken
years before, took. It was a vow
of the present and the future, and yet I felt it
to have some touch on the distant past
or the distant past on it, I felt
the silent, dry, crying ghost of my
parents' marriage there, somewhere
in the bright space—perhaps one of the
plummeting flies, bouncing slightly
as it hit forsaking all others, then was brushed
away. I felt as if I had come
to claim a promise—the sweetness I'd inferred
from their sourness; and at the same time that I had
come, congenitally unworthy, to beg.
And yet, I had been working toward this hour
all my life. And then it was time
to speak—he was offering me, no matter
what, his life. That is all I had to
do, that evening, to accept the gift
I had longed for—to say I had accepted it,
as if being asked if I breathe. Do I take?
I do. I take as he takes—we have been
practicing this. Do you bear this pleasure? I do.
Married by our bodies! ! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.
the sweetness I'd inferred from their sourness; and at the same time that I had come, congenitally unworthy, to beg. And yet, I had been working toward this hour all my life. And then it was time to speak GREAT POEM great write great 10+++++++++++++++++++++++
This is a poem with a tragic context: her very personal history. To grasp some of that context read her " I Go Back To May 1937" , also on these pages, and then research what it's about, in order to be fully able to comprehend what she's referring to in The Wedding Vow.
sharon's experience was different than mine, but i appreciate her meditation, her detailed recollection, of what is such a weighty moment, a covenant moment. -glen
We stood beside each other, crying slightly with fear and awe. In truth, we had married that first night, in bed, we had been married by our bodies, but now we stood in history—what our bodies had said, .......outstanding conceptualization. A beautiful poem is amazingly shared. Thanks and congratulations for being selected this poem as the modern poem of the poem of the day.
Beautifully penned dear Sharoncongratulations for being selected as the POD God bless
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/4/2024 11:27:53 AM # 1.0.0.1119
''.. he was offering me, no matter what, his life. That is all I had to do, that evening, to accept the gift I had longed for.. '' this is what we hope when we marry.. Then it's up to.. Life.. A very good poem, indeed