20 lines for love
on the occasion of the 20th wedding anniversary of Charles and Amanda Earl on Friday, September 23, 2022
1. On March 1, 2001, Alexandra Violet meets Total Creep on Web Personals; they argue about the redundancy of his name.
2. They meet in Minto Place, his hair hangs down his back, his eyes are blue.
3. She knows she is home for the first time in her life when she lies on top of him on the gold sheets and the purple counterpane of her queen-sized bed in her bachelor apartment on Slater Street.
4. She invites him to move in with her, ten days after their first online conversation.
5. Sangria at Dow’s Lake inspires an impromptu train trip to Montreal to see pink azaleas, and daffodils.
6. They love colour, office supplies, award shows and kink.
7. He covers her in liquid latex paint. Drips candle wax over her nipples, flogs it off.
8. After the miscarriage, they choose a long bus ride home, holding each other as the bus meanders past houses with white picket fences and kids playing in the yards.
9. For their wedding, they take the Dayliner from Victoria to Duncan. The route is narrow through the mountains, overlooking rushing waters. Elvis, old Elvis is their conductor.
10. They marry on a beach in Maple Bay in Duncan on the first day of autumn, between birthdays, so they are the same age. They wear fall colours. She carries roses and calla lilies.
11. After a pub lunch, they travel the Malahat in the back of a Daimler.
12. They honeymoon at a B&B in English Bay with huge and delicious breakfasts.
13. They set off the smoke alarm when they light the incense. She is bent over the ottoman receiving a flogging.
14. At her poetry readings, he takes photos; they drink Lenny’s mumbo jumbo rum cocktails at Nostalgica and stay up too late.
15. When she comes home in tears from work, he suggests she quit and take up writing full time. They can do without big trips, a house, or a car, fill their apartment with books.
16. She writes erotic fiction with a group online. A man from Toronto wants to have an affair. She musters up the courage to tell her husband, who suggests they invite him over and rent a hotel room.
17. There are lovers they share and others they don’t. Some move in for a while and then go. Their lives are full of love.
18. She almost dies and he saves her life.
19. He makes her turkey and cheesecake when she can’t keep anything down.
20. And from our vows: “Being together is a choice and not an obligation. I choose to travel the high road of love with you through life. I promise you passion every day of our lives. I promise to inspire you and nourish your spirit. I promise to celebrate life’s joys with you. I vow to be honest, to share with you my deepest needs and secret desires. I promise to have a lifelong love affair with you, to live juicy with you forever." This life has been full of juice.
Rumi, This Marriage - Ode 2667
May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk,
this marriage, like wine and halvah.
May this marriage offer fruit and shade
like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter,
our every day a day in paradise.
May this marriage be a sign of compassion,
a seal of happiness here and hereafter.
May this marriage have a fair face and a good name,
an omen as welcome
as the moon in a clear blue sky.
I am out of words to describe
how spirit mingles in this marriage.
Twenty reasons for joy! Thanks for sharing this. Hiram Larew