One Man to Another

Where will the worker of steady hand
Find work enough to fill his mind?
Where shall the husband find bread to stand,
If not from his wife in love's kind
Embrace...made bitter sweet by slow times
Melodious roll, by this endless rhyme?

So should the worker steady himself
If he has no one steady to love him?
Shall a husband employ all his wealth
Upon others if full to the brim
Is his barn with the spoils of his crop?
He should, lest his heart should die, and he drop.

I don't know how to say it, or why it
Should matter at all that I say at all
How very happy I am for you. Wit
Has no rhyme worthy of a union
Between the working man and his woman.
On such a day as this season of Fall
I wish you well; today, and the long haul
That you have ahead of you in marriage.
And latter, when pushing baby carriage
Perhaps you'll look into the eyes of she
Who stole not your heart but countered its pull
With a mutual giving, one soul to soul...

Whatever the times bring to you, do know
That the body pines for a true show
Of what truth makes known in the bitterness
Of life's military march. Distress
Will be a pillar of life upheld by
The steady heart of the one who works long
Hours, in days when he'd rather not.
And the lovely song, or beauteous sigh
Made by lovers becomes a stronger song
When they work together rather than rot.

So if you wish for the glue that's needed,
The cohesive that bonds two together,
Go to Christ in prayer, not conceited
But with contrite heart, a love that is sure.
Know that the love you bear him will cement
The steady heart into a steadfast trust,
And as surely as the floor will not dent,
Nor the bar betwixt your love will not rust,
So too may you count upon the work of
Your hand, and hers that stands beside you,
To draw you closer together in love
To God; you both, to each other, will be true.

              One Man to Another, (c) Luke Bennette, November 2012