Half a Decade – A poem to my wife

I don’t claim to be a poet, but for my five-year anniversary with my wife, Heather, I decided I would write her one.

Five years can feel like a really long time, but in the great scheme of things, we’re just children in our marriage. To that end, I wanted to write a poem that would reclaim the joy of childhood. (I was born in Rome, Italy, and grew up there until I was ten, so to me the thought of childhood always brings back memories of Piazza Navona, which is one of the more popular Piazzas in Rome, especially at Christmas time where the whole place is packed with street vendors selling candy and other goodies.

Half a Decade

Half a decade,

and yet, we’re only children

in our marriage.

We turned five years old,

and we ought to believe in magic.

Do you remember magic?

The way it explained the world

using a dictionary of wonder?

I vaguely remember being five,

roaming the streets of Rome

at Christmas time with my parents.

In Piazza Navona,

street vendors set up shops,

and there were more candy stands and toys

than wholesome food to eat.

Clouds of sugar on a stick,

Nutella-coated crepes,

licorice wheels and Kinder eggs,

chocolate covered everything…

Oh, the joy of candy-colored memories.

The toys!

The things that gave us pleasure.

That’s what I wish for us on this anniversary,

not the things themselves,

but the essence they evoked.

I wish for us

to be candy to one another;

To remember magic,

and how easy the world seemed

through the eyes of a person

who stood so close to the ground.

We’re five years old together.

And as children,

we ought to take pleasure in the

sweet and tasteful gifts

that only God can give:

The Masterful Magician

who melded two people

of oil and water together

in ways that only magic can.

Phoenix is only one,

and already

he’s gaining ground on us,

the wobbly, little man he is.

Let’s teach him a bit of magic,

and convince him that

we still believe.

Let’s love one another

in the ways

that Christ has taught us;

in the ways

that only children can.

 

What about you?

This is not the first time I’ve written a poem for my wife. I wrote her the first poem, “Clouds in the Water” when I wanted to express my love to her, and the second, “One Sword” when I asked her to marry me.

Have you ever written a poem for a loved one? What was the special occasion?