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Bastions of the Faith
Had some architect
wished to play a prank
on the institution of marriage
he might have abutted this couple
one to the other
he a leering gargoyle
on the severe stucco
straight lines of her façade
Yet here they are, half a century
of weathered resistance to
indignities of marriage erosion
raising glasses, drinking toasts
to the edifice of their
golden wedding anniversary
While the outside world dances on
to the music of a thousand broken promises
while children and friends
who have left the neighborhood of faith
watch from their own unobservant
dwellings in various stages of collapse,
these homes, these families, stand resolute
against the cruelest tempests
Built to last, to suffer indignities
bequeathed by generations
of grim-lipped worshipers
they live on, gray mansions of the old world
till death and beyond
divorce is not a term
to be heard within these walls
© Johnmichael Simon
2005
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