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HOW A UNIVERSE IS BORN
When they left their shtetls in Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine,
when French Canada, Ireland, and England receded in the rear view mirror
and Germany, Austria, and Poland sank below the horizon,
when Kholmech, Yarmolinitz, Sharvel, Sorel, Keningsberg, and
Killorglin had become only shadows
of memory, all thoughts having turned to farms and
factories in a New World of hope,
not one of these intrepid travelers, these daring risk-takers and
desperate dreamers, could have imagined
that this Madison day would dawn somewhere in
the diamond star-fields they sowed, a new
Cosmos alive with silver comets streaking and
shining planets falling
into miraculous orbits of love.
No, the dreamers were not dreaming of Stacy and Jamie’s wedding.
Invitations could not reach them. RSVPs were not returned.
Still, let’s gaze in awe at the universe they set in motion,
more dazzling than those Northern Lights painting
the skies over Wisconsin.
They crossed the ocean without a single promise.
But today promises will be exchanged in an old State Street
theater where the feature presentation
is just the latest story in an epic journey
without end.
For Jamie & Stacy
August 2, 2014