The sun shone warmly over the ‘City of Sails’

All around, a gentle Pacific sea breeze blew

Softly, we replied to THE question, without fail

But of course, there was no doubt. We do.

 

Friends gathered, yet still we felt an inner loneliness

A happy day tinged with sorrow, as we toasted absent kin

We, the newly married, now complete, but with an emptiness

Thousands of miles away from those we held dear within

 

Reminiscing, we acknowledged some recent pain

Sceptics went so far as to say we wouldn’t last

But that day was our sunshine, no chance of rain

Yesterday’s gone; it’s about our future, not our past

 

We had the world at our feet. We could and would

See it all, do it all, pin the map and travel, where?

We were unstoppable, we would, and we could

Live the dream, ride the bull, and do what we dare

 

Life became different then. I wanted to rule my world.

I disregarded and overlooked your unhappiness

Blinkered as the years of your sadness unfurled

Each day, I moved us closer to our destructiveness.

 

This year marks, ironically, our pearl anniversary

From that day in Auckland, when you and I became we

Through the years, when love was considered contradictory

The sceptics were right; We didn’t last. Barely surviving three.

 

I remember your smile, though it’s been a while

I remember good times shared, which we both enjoyed

The bad times we thought we’d never reconcile

But mostly, our Auckland commitment, which I destroyed