Still A Pretty Nice Thing

“Though marriage takes everything you’ve got and almost breaks you,

All in all it’s still a pretty nice thing”,

This was hubby’s analysis as he watched our nephew

And soon-to-be bride smile as they counted down the days to this Saturday.

It’s a give-all-you’ve-got

Or we fall apart

It’s as much a matter of mind,

As of heart

It almost breaks us

That’s the truth

As it makes old people

Out of youth

It will tether your wallet

And weather your brow

It will turn those raven locks

To snow

It will exchange 'me'

For 'we' and 'us'

It will brush away years

Like a fleck of dust

It’s never quite

How we suppose

And everyone who has

Been there knows

It takes a lot more give

Than take

After the vows

And the wedding cake

…and the honey moon

Turns into life

A ‘Til death do us part
Husband and Wife’

While we laugh, weep, 

And rearrange

What once we thought we knew

Then change

…our minds because

Love’s grin and grit

Is never how

We picture it

Yet, in spite of

All it will bring

Marriage is still

A pretty nice thing

© Janet Martin

Next week, June 3rd, James (husband) and I celebrate 28 years of 'a pretty nice thing'.