For Zachary
Ten years
Named for tin
Because after that all time
It is strong and durable, so they say
But I find myself thinking of tinkers
With hammers and shears
Perhaps marriage is
That too
There is beauty in the dented, mended watering can
That can still hold water, that can still nourish life
Note: I wrote this poem on 20 January when the idea was fresh – for once not leaving my anniversary present until the last moment!
I hadn’t planned the structure of this before I started writing, but the lines seemed to grow in a beautiful crescendo in the first stanza. I wanted this mirrored, paired, equal in the second.
Likewise with the last two lines – I wanted them coupled, to match.
The effectiveness of this will depend on typography, but they line up pretty well from this view.
Somehow, the idea of having ten lines also felt right.
There is so much more I could say, but the love lurks between the lines.
Photo by Steve Mushero on Unsplash