start again.

I thought that finding something appropriate to read at the wedding of two close friends would be a doddle.

Apparently not.

I wanted to avoid slush at all costs, but actually finding something appropriate is devilishly hard. For once, this is an area where the internet is of no bloody use at all, suggesting that you go for some drippy poetry or a reading from Captain Correlli. Fine, but not what I was looking for.

I was convinced that Nick Hornby would come up trumps, but it turns out that "Fever Pitch" really is mainly about football (and Arsenal at that) and that "High Fidelity" -- great book though it is -- is distinctly double-edged in most of its key passages, and probably a bit too close to the bone to be read out at a wedding ceremony....

A bit of the last chapter of "Ulysses"? No. Some Robert Frost? No. Something by Shakespeare? e e cummings? D.H. Lawrence? John bloody Hegley? No, no, no.

Argghhh!

And then I thought about this:

---

I hope all my days
Will be lit by your face
I hope all the years
Will hold tight our promises

I don't wanna be old and sleep alone
An empty house is not a home
I don't wanna be old and feel afraid

I don't wanna be old and sleep alone
An empty house is not a home
I don't wanna be old and feel afraid

And if I need anything at all

I need a place
That's hidden in the deep
Where lonely angels sing you to your sleep
Though all the world is broken

I need a place
Where I can make my bed
A lover's lap where I can lay my head
Cos now the room is spinning
The day's beginning

---

It felt right, and I hope they liked it.

I wish them happiness with all of my heart.