Written 12 September 2008, inspired on a very rainy day in the Netherlands. I ventured by foot to the Museum de Wieger from a horse exposition. Upon arrival, a wedding was taking place in the room of the exhibition I came to see – “Taal en telken” by Mariëtte van Erp. Most graciously, though, the manager permitted me to view van Erp’s poetry and visual art between the two ceremonies.
“Two Weddings and a Museum”
Deurne, Netherlands
Lips smack
between paintings
as the Dutch kiss,
swiveling heads
three times.
A ’68 pink Cadillac
awaits to carry
bride and groom
through lowland rain
on a September day,
“vrijdag” – roughly translated
“free day” in English,
my mother tongue
I hear sung
for both ceremonies.
“Dames” and “heren”
exchange vows
as young as
the purple crocus
unseasonably sprung
in strange weather
this early warm fall
interrupted by
untimely mist
and showers,
unwelcomed by
newlyweds
and this museum visitor,
surprising pairs
on a wet fair “dag”.
Post updated: 28 January 2009.
Two Weddings and a Museum by Melissa Dey Hasbrook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
