an empty chair at table four.

I had hoped that you would be
At my wedding

Not at the altar -

I could not have your hands
Your feet
Your smirking lips
(on holy ground)

Just

A smiling witness to the corseted triumph of womanhood

But you won't be there
When bells ring,
When tears fall,
When I return to the earth, because

(you always thought I would have to reconcile myself with the fact that you will not take my hand before the priest and they always thought that I would never wear white but the truth of the matter is I will have to learn to love your absence because)

You cannot bear to see me happy.