When I Say I love You

 

When I say I love you

I mean just as you are,

Promises are for the future

We never know that far.

 

When I say I love you

I can only speak for now,

Now is all I can give to you:

It’s in the now I vow.

 

Heaven knows I mean it

When I say I love you

But it’s only now I say it,

The future is always due.

 

I can make a promise

But what is a promise worth?

Many a promise is made

In merriment and mirth.

 

When times are good

And all is fair in sunshine,

Honey dew escapes the lips

And the mind is in a bind.

 

Yes, it’s in the present

When I say I love you,

So very certain in the now

What else can I do?

 

Age and illness matter not

When I say I love you,

The future I cannot factor in

I know not what is due.

 

I know I made a vow

As I was expected so to do,

I repeated the words I heard

And I said them all to you.

 

A moment like no other

And I meant it all the way

When we two became one

Right on our wedding day.

 

It’s not about the future

When I say I love you,

This moment now is all I know…

I know my love is true.

 

Stewart Russell © September 27, 2022

Simpleton

 

 

Simpleton is a moron

But then she is married to one,

Her spouse as we all know

Is Mr. Moron.

 

Married for many a year,

These two is a definite fit,

While many couples do tit-for-tat

They do tat-for-tit.

 

“What’s wrong,” you ask,

“About doing tat-for-tit?”

Well, the Morons go backwards

To come forward a bit.

 

Simpleton is the wife

And her roll she clearly knows,

Whatever her husband says to do

She is prepared to oppose.

 

Like on the wedding day

None of his family was to come

And she got away with this request

Convincing him it was dumb.

 

None of his family came

While all of hers attended

And so, her family had all the work,

And she was highly offended.

 

 

Her family did the spending

And Moron’s family was spared,

Simpleton made a huge mistake

But Moron didn’t care.

 

Oh yes, he was very dumb

But she was dumber still

And together they are the dumbest;

Dumb-dumb is their skill.

 

Like the day he was shut out,

She came out without a key

And the rain came pouring down

Boy, weren’t they silly?

 

An absurd little couple:

Both are short of stature,

So short that these two present

Only half a picture.

 

One more and I’ll be gone

Having run out of time

But I have to tell you this last one

Since it’s on my mind.

 

 

Like the last fight they had

Which Simpleton had caused

By saying she was a fool to marry him

And for a divorce she called.

 

Moron was eager to accept

Shouting that he agreed,

Suddenly, he had found a way out

And now he could be freed.

 

However, she thought it over

Noticing he was too cool;

She was Simpleton by name and nature

But she was no fool.

 

Today she is still married

With divorce not far away,

It takes two fools to make a marriage

I once heard some fool say.

 

Stewart Russell © March 21, 2025

 

On Your Wedding Day

Four women hold prominent places

In this simple man’s earthly life;

Two of them are his mother and his sister,

The others are his daughter and his wife.

Regarding that topmost position

His mother would have held that space,

However with the fact of marriage

His wife took over that place.

As you have already reasoned out

Second spot then belonged to Mother,

However, with the fact of procreation

That place was taken by another.

In the year 1986, on the 23^rd of May

There was a delightful, assertive yell,

A little girl had announced her arrival

Mummy and Daddy called her Lynelle.

As we gaze upon her dazzling beauty

On this most remarkable Father’s Day,

Note the splendiferous bride she has made

She is all yours, Chris, is all that we can say.

Chris, we give to you this woman

Straight out of our treasured chest;

Not many items are stored there

But she is undoubtedly among the best.

I have no doubt that you will cherish her,

I have watched your every move,

You more than went beyond the call

To us that obvious fact to prove.

Just to let you know though

That Lynelle still holds second spot

In that treasure chest of mine,

To Lynette and me, she really means a lot.

If you should grow weary of her

Don’t touch a hair on her head,

Boy, I tell you on this your wedding day

You would wish that you were dead.

Let me hurry on to state, though

That I have no such debilitating fear,

Both Lynette and I are convinced

By your obvious and conscientious care.

Lynelle, your mother has trained you well

And I have simply tried to comply

With the two women in our household

Whom Neither Michael nor I would dare to defy.

This is not to frighten you, Chris,

No, Lynette and I have no such design,

We have put much into this young lady

Whom to you, today God has assigned.

Some of my friends have asked me,

“Aren’t you going to miss Lynelle?”

Listen to what I have said to them,

Listen and I want you to listen well.

It was for this moment we raised this child

Who today stood before all of you,

We give God much praise and thanks

That she has finally said, “I do.”

But if at some time she gets the feeling

That she would want to visit our house,

Only a visit, I would want to assure her

That room now belongs to me and my spouse.

I say to you both today, value well the counsel

Given by Pastors Hunte and Cumberbatch

And when the challenges come, as they will,

To one another, become even more attached.

For you have committed yourselves

To one another for the rest of your earthly life,

So Lynelle, we simply say to you today,

Go with our blessings and make Chris the best ever wife.

Stewart Russell © 2016