Postponing the Ceremony

[May 20, 2020]

At the time appointed, assemble in
some other appropriate place

[insert forest]

with the woman to the right and the man to the left
and adorn this manner of life

[insert dog]

the mystery of the union
commends it to be honored

[insert birdsong]

in heart, body, and mind
for their mutual joy not

[insert sheets of rain]

to be entered in accordance
with the purposes now come

[insert wet dog]

to be joined. show just cause
I require and charge you both

[insert lightning]

consent and, forsaking all others,
be faithful

[insert the forsaken]

witnessing these promises
uphold these two persons

[insert the beam from your own eye]

from this day forward,
for better for worse

[insert another day]

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Paula Reed Nancarrow (she/her) is a Minnesota poet and a past winner of the Sixfold Poetry Prize. Recent poems have appeared in Plainsongs, The Madrigal, and The Southern Review. Find links to previous poems published online at paulareednancarow.com