Poetry Fix

Wedding
–Alice Oswald
from The Thing in the Gap Stone Stile

From time to time our love is like a sail
and when the sail begins to alternate
from tack to tack, it’s like a swallowtail
and when the swal­low flies it’s like a coat;
and if the coat is yours, it has a tear
like a wide mouth and when the mouth begins
to draw the wind, it’s like a trumpeter
and when the trum­pet blows, it blows like millions …
and this, my love, when mil­lions come and go
beyond the need of us, is like a trick;
and when the trick begins, it’s like a toe
tip-toe­ing on a rope, which is like luck;
and when the luck begins, it’s like a wedding,
which is like love, which is like everything.