Be my wedding guest, tonight!
On the eve of my beloved's nuptial vow
let fate unite in wedlock, though in tears;
the moment of my broken dreams.
Light the candles even in dying glow,
lay on the veil laced with stitches of sorrow,
tie the cords with many a blue,
then slip the ring jeweled with empty tomorrow.
Let the ghostly choir sing but in silence,
ring the bells only in mute sighing,
and after this hallowed ceremony is over,
let me drink the sweet chalice of bitterness.
Should he feel and remember
that someone, somewhere . . . once,
shared happy moments spent together,
can there be sweeter than this pain?
So, before the dawn comes,
before he waits down the aisle
to take the hand of someone else,
come, my friends, lovers and all . . . .
be my wedding guests, tonight.