Anniversary dinner
an abecedarian about longing for years past
Anniversary dinner:
braised short ribs and
chardonnay.
Don’t come at me with the inappropriateness of that pairing, I say,
everything goes with White wine.
Foodie husband responds: Not so.
Gay men love White wine, I retort, It’s like a
homosexual elixor. I’m amused with myself.
I wonder, given his frustrated response to my (relentlessly)
jaunty banter, if the two
kindred spirits at the table might not, 21 years
later, be another inharmonious pairing, better
matched in an earlier time, when we didn’t quite care about such rules.
Now it seems so easy to overstep each other’s boundaries, when
offending one another seemed at one time unimaginable.
Perhaps it’s time for a break? I wonder,
questioning how we got to this point,
remembering earlier times when things like making
sure we chose the right wine didn’t matter, and just being together felt rebellious.
Times when two young gay men choosing love felt important.
Unblemished by the contempt we would learn to have for one another, we loved
vociferously, as couples do
when the contempt is aimed at them instead of between them. No
xerographic copy of our parents' relationships, our love felt vulnerable
yet invincible, and holding hands was heavier than it needed to be.
Zealous lovers grow tired, too, I think, and reach for the chardonnay.
About the Creator
F Cade Swanson
Queer dad from Virginia now living and writing in the Pacific Northwest. Dad poems, sad poems, stories about life. Read more at fcadeswanson.com
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Comments (2)
Well said and thanks for sharing!
Beautiful composition!