The Blink of an Eye

Yesterday was my 10th anniversary together with my girlfriend, Nancy. We’ve been legally married eight years since March (so yes, she’s technically my wife, but that’s to be covered in an upcoming post), but it’s the  June anniversary that is the special one. Yesterday was also my friend Jamie’s birthday, and it was my own two days before that. So last night, we all went out, along with my good friend Jed and had a raucous time…some of which was shared on Twitter (incentive to follow me there, hint-hint).

The writing is not paying a lot right now, so I couldn’t afford both a gift for Nancy and a party, and we all really wanted to spend time together, so I wrote her a poem instead. Now, I rarely write poems for Nancy–for which I have received more than one complaint–but as I have tried to explain to her (and please, please don’t comment telling me her point-of-view, which, especially if you are a woman, I’m sure you understand, because I, too, understand it, and I’m really trying to compromise on our viewpoints here) capturing her perfection in a poem is impossible. Anything I write does not and cannot live up to the unique and awesome Nancy-ness of Nancy. It’s like trying to describe the ocean. You can capture a wave, you can capture its depths, you can capture its color in poetry, but the ocean is an experience of the soul and cannot itself be captured fully in words.

Anyway, I wrote the poem, and apparently others want to read it, even though its sappy and a little unpolished as far as the rhyme and meter are concerned, but hey–it’s not for professional publication, it’s personal, and in such a case the meaning and emotion is more important than the formal technicalities. I could work on it more, but I know it would never live up to my standards, so I present it here as I wrote it–a first and probably final draft.

It’s untitled, but the title of this post, “The Blink of an Eye” works as good as anything if you’re one of those people who insist on titles. Here it is. Enjoy.

Uncounted suns up in the sky shine light on countless worlds;
Uncounted years have rippled forth as time itself unfurls,
And a decade is less than a blink of an eye in the lifetime of the gods—
That we would share this place and time wholly defies the odds.

Ten years we’ve shared our lives thus far, ten years of joy and pain,
Ten years of love and loss, ten years of sunshine and of rain,
And still I wonder why we’re here, still I wonder whether
The gods themselves, or Fate perhaps, or chance brought us together.

I often feel that we have been together in the past.
Our souls, entwined by purest love, forever are held fast,
But though our meetings may by gods or Fate dictated be,
I know that we have choices too, and you need not have chosen me.

I need not have chosen you, but I’m glad I did, my dear,
For I cannot imagine life without your presence here.
And when I ponder what the future holds for us in store,
I’m certain we shall love beyond this life, forevermore.

Though we have faced our share of strife, it pales when it’s compared
To all the joy and happiness that you and I have shared.
It’s bliss to walk this world with you, and I am filled with pride
To share the past, the present, and the future at your side.