HAVE you noticed the date? Some do, some don’t.

In honour of the occasion, what follows is part of a longer narrative poem, written by me, featuring a man, a woman, a small diamond and a tiny speck of light.

It is evening; shadows lengthen; lower, lower, dips the sun.

Soon the summer’s day will end, the summer’s night will have begun.

Stands the tree, man’s great provider, linking earth to sun and sky,

And beside it on the hilltop, with two good friends standing by

Waits the bridegroom for his loved one, who approaches from below,

Unhurried and serenely, with a formal step, and slow.

Now she nears, bearing flowers, two attendants at her side;

With the beauty of the blossoms, to the bridegroom comes the bride.

As they meet, the sun is setting, and they turn to face the east,

Where the dark approaches soonest and the stars appear first.

Turns the earth upon its axis as they search the heavens far

Waiting for the magic moment, waiting, rises now the star!

(Anthony:) “I will cherish you and care for you in sickness and in health

Through the good times and the bad times, through our poverty and wealth.

Till the earth recalls our atoms, that the cycle may renew

You are mine and I am yours. I will live and die with you.”

(Jill:) “I will bear for you our children if it be that we are blessed.

In fortune’s trough I’ll comfort you, enjoy with you life’s crest.

While the sun lights up the daytime and at night the stars still shine

There will never be another; I am yours, you are mine.”

Now the bridegroom’s nervous fingers from his pocket take the ring

And he puts it on her finger and the Cosmos seems to sing.

After countless beats of time, across light-centuries of space

At last the little diamond takes up its rightful place.

The carol mentioned in my previous article, Long Ago Prophets Knew, was written by Fred Pratt Green.

Now, which couple, intoxicated by new love, said — or rather sang — that to deserve such delight: “Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.”

Happy Valentine’s Day.