Take

(an attempt at channeling Lisa Loeb)

calligraphy names around the circle tables,
My eyes trace the plates and spoons
wedding rings, crystal sings
no music in my flute of champagne

do you take this woman,
do you take this man?

Brides have made me their bridesmaid
Do I look good in this shade of maize?
Not a great cut, or what I would want
but this isn't my wedding day.

he can have your hand
do you take this man
with his new name even though
I like it the way it is

do you take this woman
the day everyone calls her beautiful?
And they say it's not for you.
I guess it's not for me, too.

I hold the arm of a friend of the groom,
his wife is the one with the stroller,
do I take this tissue to his
runny-nosed mother and daughter?

do you take this man,
do you take this woman?
dancing like shivering jello
spilled on the rubber-smudged floor.

limousine car's left,
dripping rosewater mixing with
daffodils, satin and taffeta
do I take this centerpiece home?

do I take this man,
will he take this woman?