June, here in our amazing city by the sea, is a time of beauty and entrance.
The continually arriving sea in undulations of beauty and motion. The burgeoning trees. The incredible union of greens and blues, of sea and sky and earth. June seems to be a time of union of powerful and beautiful forces coming into the fullness of themselves.
Perhaps that is why June is so often chosen as a time to wed.
I would like to share with you a poem that celebrates the decision to unite in Love.
The Beginning of a Difference
Love enters quietly,
a subtle stir,
the slight lift of the tendril seedling toward the sun,
the opening of a door that has been previously closed
or never opened,
the beginning of a difference.
Today, in the expectant Quiet,
let us consecrate ourselves
to continuing the difference.
To continue to notice in the loved one
the lilt, the gait, the dimple,
the sparkle, the mettle, the gaze.
To continue to be infused
with a spreading kindness,
an infectious, humorous, sustaining acceptance
of each other and ourselves.
Let us stand in remembrance
of our own love's beginning.
Let us kneel in the earth and cup our hands
around the tender shoot.
Let us wave and cheer as the new bird
feels the power of muscle,
the expanse of feather
as it begins to fly.
Let us continue to love one another
and these two today
as they evoke and enhance and carry on
the difference of loving.
Ruthanne "Rufus" Collinson is poet laureate for the city of Gloucester.
