1940s War Bride
My Mom
My Mom
I've been thinking about marriage recently for several reasons. One is the controversy over same sex marriages as exemplified by the appeal of the Proposition 8 decision in California. The other is the anniversary of my mother's death.
I saw my parent's marriage with its ups and downs. Ups and downs are not necessarily a bad thing between people committed to each other. It is what is done with the feelings. Gary Zukow (He was a frequent guest on the Oprah show)) talks about spiritual unions. http://consciouslivingradio.org/?p2=/customcode/consciousliving/viewcomments.jsp&bid=81
I saw my parent's marriage with its ups and downs. Ups and downs are not necessarily a bad thing between people committed to each other. It is what is done with the feelings. Gary Zukow (He was a frequent guest on the Oprah show)) talks about spiritual unions. http://consciouslivingradio.org/?p2=/customcode/consciousliving/viewcomments.jsp&bid=81
In marriage people face themselves. As in all relationships our own stuff comes out and others mirror it back to us.
I believe in unions as spaces of personal and spiritual growth as well as places of sheer enjoyment. I believe in marriage and that everyone has the right to be with whoever they love.
Marriage in the past was to procreate, keep the species and societal norms alive. It was a business transaction, an ally of religion and also the home of lovers.
I believe in unions as spaces of personal and spiritual growth as well as places of sheer enjoyment. I believe in marriage and that everyone has the right to be with whoever they love.
Marriage in the past was to procreate, keep the species and societal norms alive. It was a business transaction, an ally of religion and also the home of lovers.
There are a lot of changes in the land, sea and air and in our human interactions (society and its norms) these days. We are redefining everything from the power of the federal government to mandate laws that supercede state laws, from how to heat and cool our homes and fuel our cars, to whether or not to give condoms to kids in elementary schools (debated in my home state of Massachusetts- yes really and unbelievable) to the question about whom is legally allowed to marry whom. Time will tell which way the wind blows with all these choices we are faced with in deciding the direction of our society.
Number 3 prompt is simply Marriage and all its meanings. Good marriages, bad marriages, a reason to marry or not, marriages that worked or didn't, the beginning of a marriage or the end til death do us part.
Here is a poem about the beginnings of my parent's marriage. It is one of the poems that fills the Poetry Bomb a poetry project from the creative mind of S.A. Griffin. Read about it in the New Yorker.
Here is a poem about the beginnings of my parent's marriage. It is one of the poems that fills the Poetry Bomb a poetry project from the creative mind of S.A. Griffin. Read about it in the New Yorker.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2009/12/the-poetry-bomb-is-empty.html
To Mom and Dad wherever you are, this one is for you.
During the War
by
Elizabeth P. Glixman
They were in love during the war
War bride and soldier
Most of the time
They were in love
In letters
In pictures
In arms surrounding one another
In white dress
Jacket and lace
In sergeant stripes
And khaki pants
They were war bride and war soldier
In love
On trains
In hotels
On the lawn of the home where they
Vowed
To be in love
Most of the time
They were
*************************************
Another poet's observations on marriage-
This poem originally appeared in the November 1990 issue of Poetry.
Marriage
Years later they find themselves talking
about chances, moments when their lives
might have swerved off
for the smallest reason.
What if
I hadn’t phoned, he says, that morning?
What if you’d been out,
as you were when I tried three times
the night before?
Read the rest.
