Congratulations

To Angela and Michael Mathers on their 5 year anniversary. How young they were when they married! I am so in awe of people who carry on healthy lasting relationships. To have another person that is your partner and a witness to your joy and pain is a fundamental need in life. A poem from Jim Moore a great Twin Cities poet.

LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE

(Colorado Springs, Colorado)

Last night you sat on the couch

conjugating verbs. I was at the window,

one eye on the dark and untranslatable

stone of the mountain. But the other eye

watched you as you chanted Italian.

I too am learning a verb: to love--

past, present, imperfect, future.

But I keep forgetting how hard it is

to speak a language so foreign

to my tongue. Later,

in bed, you are still reading

from the book of answers.

I fall asleep with the light on,

my back fitting easily into the small cave

of your warmth. I dream you learned

the imperfect, then whispered it

in my ear. The next morning

I wake up first and sit

before the same window.

The world's imperfect beauty

sings its song into my ear.

Out of the darkness,

the mountain rises into light,

untranslatable joy,

happiness in the present tense.