A poem for my most loved person

The day before Valentine’s day in 2016, my husband asked me out on our first date; we met on the 15th, skipping right over a holiday we weren’t ready to celebrate together yet. Thanks, St. Valentine, for this arrowstruck love of mine: steadfast and foolhardy.

He married me the night before our wedding day

Out front on the lawn at the inn
where I sat in the July sun for picinic lunches
every year since I was ten

Sitting on my favorite bench, I asked him, “Do you want to just marry me now?”

Right by that giant oak
where I ran by the light of my moon
making wishes with purple and green glow bracelets on my wrists

He said, “Yes!” and laughed before getting the whole word out

At the verysame break in the trees on the hilltop
where I first saw my Lord’s lamplight gaze in the leaves
shining golden by day and silver at night

Joy is breath: marriage blessed in our I-Do’s
where I first found the love we happily now holdfast to
hand-in-hand.

@bykaileyann