It’s about 17 or so hours until my brother-in-law Andy Ramoniac and his fiancee Sue tie the knot. Since I expect that my hands will be full with groomsman, accordion and “chair lifting during the hora” duties, I thought I’d take this quiet moment to wish Andy and Sue my best.
In their honour, I present a poem by Ogden Nash…
Tin Wedding Whistle
Though you know it anyhow
Listen to me, darling, now,Proving what I need not prove
How I know I love you, love.Near and far, near and far,
I am happy where you are;Likewise I have never larnt
How to be it where you aren’t.Far and wide, far and wide,
I can walk with you beside;Furthermore, I tell you what,
I sit and sulk where you are not.Visitors remark my frown
Where you’re upstairs and I am down,Yes, and I’m afraid I pout
When I’m indoors and you are out;But how contentedly I view
Any room containing you.In fact I care not where you be,
Just as long as it’s with me.In all your absences I glimpse
Fire and flood and trolls and imps.Is your train a minute slothful?
I goad the stationmaster wrothful.When with friends to bridge you drive
I never know if you’re alive,And when you linger late in shops
I long to telephone the cops.Yet how worth the waiting for,
To see you coming through the door.Somehow, I can be complacent
Never but with you adjacent.Near and far, near and far,
I am happy where you are;Likewise I have never larnt
How to be it where you aren’t.Then grudge me not my fond endeavor,
To hold you in my sight forever;Let none, not even you, disparage
Such a valid reason for a marriage.