Soon, we’ll have our twenty-fifth anniversary party
(Storybook Love)
On my third plane home to you yesterday,
(Somewhere Out There)
delayed three hours, I listened to love song
(Up Where We Belong)
after love song, making a party playlist.
(Time After Time)
So many over-the-top and broken-hearted
(Please)
and ridiculous. I tried to winnow them down
(We’ve Got Tonight)
to a less nakedly sentimental set, but
(Shut Up and Dance)
finally threw my hands up in the air and admitted
(Dela (I Know Why the Dog Howls at the Moon))
that they are all true, every unreasonable word.
(Never Gonna Let You Go)
So today, on our actual twenty-fifth anniversary
(As I Lay Me Down)
I want you to know that I plan to think of you
(All Because of You)
with every sappy, silly, impossibly true love song,
(Runnin’ Home to You)
for all the years that we are granted.
(Book of Love)
*****
Happy anniversary, Kevin Whyte. (This may be the clunkiest poem I’ve ever written you, but it still felt oddly right. 🙂 )