7 Jan: "Beyond" by Alice Walker

The old experienced ones
Never said
You must marry.
They never said
What will your husband think?
There was always so much
Work to do
Offering advice on this issue
Seems to have slipped their minds.
And so when I did marry,
A few times
By last count
I realized there was something
Called Marriage
That might happen
In a lifetime or in a flash:
But also
Something
Beyond it.
To grow toward,
To come
To understand
And know.
Not only about my beloved(s)
Who oftentimes distracted me
Sweetly, kindly, intelligently,
But about the cosmos
The stars
Tree roots
Tiny sea shells
The roiling waves
And the open door.