The Prophet says of Marriage -

       . . . You were born together, and
together you shall be forevermore.
       You shall be together when the white
wings of death scatter your days.
       Ay, you shall be together even in the
silent memory of God.
       But let there be spaces in your
togetherness,
       And let the winds of the heavens dance
between you.

       Love one another, but make not a bond
of love:
       Let it rather be a moving sea between
the shores of your souls.
       Fill each other's cup but drink not from
one cup.
       Give one another of your bread but eat
not from the same loaf.
       Sing and dance together and be joyous,
but let each one of you be alone,
       Even as the strings of a lute are alone
thought they quiver with the same music.

       Give your hearts, but not into each
other's keeping.
       For only the hand of Life can contain
your hearts.
       And stand together yet not too near
together:
       For the pillars of the temple stand
apart,
       And the oak tree and the cypress grow
not in each other's shadow.

Kahlil Gibran

May 23, 1998

The marriage of Joyce and Fred Morris

At Menemsha, Martha's Vineyard