Marry Like Rock Stars on the Road

For Jessica and Alex

Live your marriage like a band on tour
and let the tedious bus hours of the longest ride
be Grammy Moments gathered by the mile.
Play as you ride, not for the money or the fame,
but because the music that you make
sweetens everything you do. Don’t spare your praise
for every note, don’t hold back waiting for a better time.
Now’s all you get this time around,
live in it, don’t just watch it pass.
Live your marriage so that when the music slows,
what you remember most is bus ride melodies, the casual jam,
the unrehearsed free playing when the music flowed
out of you both in rivers of delight.
Let the one who plays support the one that sings.
Anticipate the tempo’s unpredictable and sudden change,
so that the music sometimes leads, sometimes the song,
Make every note you can a Grace Note.
When you make the squeaky sound, the miss-timed beat, be quick
to recognize your mistake, apologize, admit your fault,
and cue the sound technician for another take.
And when the false note isn’t yours, make sure
you don’t pounce like a critic, on the insignificant
and made it bigger than the song itself.
The greatest songs survive forgotten lyrics and the sour notes,
and though strings break, and voices crack some times,
don’t let the music slacken and degrade
into the jangle of an uncompleted song.
And in that moment when the music stops,
the one between the argument and the make-up sex,
resolve to make amends and think how empty
would the world be if your music stopped for good.
Resolve the next time that a beat is missed, you’ll realize
it doesn’t matter which one was off key,
forgive, and better yet forget; play on, one note
does not contain the song.
Remember it’s a love song after all,
and every love song no one can forget
contains wild passages gently played,
and counterpoints of sweetness rendered loud.
Give every note your soul and play
your marriage so the crowd goes home exhausted,
smiling, not at your lyrics or your golden voices,
but at the passion and the joy with which you played.

©WILLIAM JOHN WATKINS