As a second for my series of poems about marriage, leading up to the Royal Wedding, Here is a poem I wrote for Maggie, to accompany an anniversary gift of a silver brooch bearing the image of a mediaeval ship. Sadly we no longer have the brooch as it was stolen when our vicarage was robbed, though it looked a little like this:
Happily we still have the poem, as poetry, like love, is one of those things that nobody can actually steal. It goes like this:
Here is the image of a sacred ship,
Her silver cross-beam set within a ring,
Love, let it be a token of our hope
When sudden storms or floods are threatening,
When faith gives way to doubt, or love to fear,
Then, as on Galilee, we’ll rouse the Lord,
For he is sleeping with us and will hear
And make our peace with his creative Word,
Who made us, loved us, formed us and has set
His chosen pair of lovers in an ark.
Borne upwards by his spirit, we will float
Above the rising waves, the falling dark
As fellow pilgrims, driven towards that haven,
Where all will be redeemed, fulfilled, forgiven.
You and Margaret must come to Florence and see Holman Hunt’s tomb he sculpted for his Fanny, mother to Cyril Benoni, which he shaped like an ark and placed on it Christ’s words on Galilee, ‘It is I, be not afraid’ and ‘Love is strong as death, many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it’, and ‘When thou passest though the waters I will be with thee, the waters cannot overflow thee’. And even better than the stolen one Dublin’s beautiful little golden soul boat I have on Poems Pennyeach.
that would be lovely Julia, some day we’ll do that
Tremendously moving, every line. Will remember when our 41st comes up on August 9.
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