My photograph was taken from a beach in Cornwall, U.K., in 2006. I do trust things turned out better in reality than in my rather jaundiced, wholly imagined, speculations on the subject of marriage and the impulsive gestures which do often bring it about – as demonstrated in some of the ostentatious proposals which took place at the Rio Olympics. (WHB)
‘MARRY ME’ it said in the sky,
The brazenly shouted plea;
Showcasing a lover’s great passion?
A proposal she had to agree.
Was love in there somewhere I wondered?
Was that what the question implied?
A lifelong commitment on offer –
Based on whim, or desire for a bride?
“I’d love to” she whispered so gently,
Accepting his plea without question.
Her doubts were dispelled by his bluster
How could she deny his suggestion?
They married in bliss shortly after,
A lifetime of rapture to come.
With hope for a lifetime of passion?
Well, that’s how it’s meant to be done
The first happy years ran so smoothly;
The path of love seemed to be fine,
But the storm clouds were looming above them
Creating a warning fault line.
It was life intervened in their story,
A lassitude lay on their marriage,
Their ardour and pleasures defeated.
Love stalled, reduced to the humdrum,
Both felt as though they’d been cheated.
Habit had killed off their lustre;
Routine had entered their souls;
Self-regard took over from closeness;
Possessions their only goals.
So was it for this they were married,
Just to reach an acceptance of sorts?
All passion long lost from their dowry
Now littered with bile and retorts.
The end of this story I’m told?
They parted with barely a whisper;
What began with a flamboyant gesture,
Ended, ‘Not with a bang but a whimper’.
This last line echoing T.S.Eliot’s oft-quoted lines from ‘The Hollow Men’ . . .
‘This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.’
