Newlyweds, by Mary McCarthy

A Married Couple, by Toller Cranston (Canada, 1949-2015). Exact date unknown.

​
Newlyweds
 
You rode out of a folk tale
on a white horse
dressed in your best
traditions
clothes carefully kept
handed down
from mother to daughter
father to son
worn at weddings
and other great
celebrations
a story in each
bright embroidered stitch
something new added
in each generation
boots or gloves or
headpiece
worked with the same
dedication
in the same language
of figure and design
reset and reimagined
ever more elaborate and rich-
 
the horse steps high
arching his neck
almost dancing
carrying you both
home to some small cottage
built of gingerbread and candy
made to bless
and amplify your joy
and yet
there must be more unsaid
in your simple story
you look so stiff
pale and sad
your faces flat and blank as wood
carved to fit some elder god’s
dark intention

Mary McCarthy

This poem was written for the Surprise Challenge, ekphrastic poetry from Canadian paintings.

Mary McCarthy has always been a writer, but spent most of her working life as a Registered Nurse. She has had work published in many online and print journals ,has been a Pushcart nominee, and her electronic e chapbook “Things I Was Told Not to Think About” is available as a free download from Praxis magazine.