readings for a civil wedding

[plama]

Any suggestions for something nice / unusual for a friend who is reading at a wedding next month?

Thanks

We had some Pablo Neruda too - a bit steamier, but lovely. Must go pick up DD but will have a look for it later.

We had:

He wishes for the Cloths of heaven
by WB Yeats

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

(I know it mentions 'heaven' but only in the sense of sky andour registrar allowed it so it should be fine)

Thanks for answering SGB - you are such an interesting, many-faceted person. I admire, and try to emulate, your liberality.

I hope that doesn't sound too arse-lickey, but I do mean it

another favourite, though maybe its history makes it more suitable for some people than others.
And don't forget the bard.

Poledra blimey .

Just marking my place for later (am having civil ceremony later in the year).

I am certainly not surreptitiously wiping away a tear, oh no Bloody PMT.

EXCERPT FROM 100 LOVE SONNETS
~ By Pablo Neruda

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz, or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off. I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers; thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance, risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way

than this: Where ?I? does not exist, nor ?You?, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Another Duffy one:

Valentine

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or a kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring,
if you like.

Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.

ItsGraceAgain - i read that out at my own wedding!!

my husband (to-be!) first read out one he had written himself asking me to marry him along the same lines

I'm being something of a hypocrite because I'm getting married in a church but am an atheist. My wife-to-be is a Christian and wants a church wedding, and I do have respect and admiration for the history for the Church and those who find they can believe.

Anyway, I love this song by Nick Cave, for my contribution to the music and readings in the church. Some might see it as a bit inappropriate in a Christian setting, but if you read it carefully, the speaker doesn't say he doesn't believe in a God, only that he doesn't believe in an interventionist one . . .

Into My Arms, by Nick Cave

I don't believe in an interventionist God
But I know, darling, that you do
But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him
Not to intervene when it came to you
Not to touch a hair on your head
To leave you as you are
And if He felt He had to direct you
Then direct you into my arms

Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms

And I don't believe in the existence of angels
But looking at you I wonder if that's true
But if I did I would summon them together
And ask them to watch over you
To each burn a candle for you
To make bright and clear your path
And to walk, like Christ, in grace and love
And guide you into my arms

Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms

And I believe in Love
And I know that you do too
And I believe in some kind of path
That we can walk down, me and you
So keep those candles burning
And make your journey bright and pure
That you?ll keep returning
Always and evermore

Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms

I also like this by Walt Whitman (dropping the "Camerado" bit), an extract from
Song of the Open Road:

Listen! I will be honest with you,
I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but
Offer rough new prizes,
These are the days that must happen to you:
You shall not heap up what is call?d riches,
You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve.
However sweet these laid-up stores,
however convenient this dwelling, we cannot remain there.
However shelter?d the port, and however
calm the waters, we must not anchor here,
however welcome the hospitality that
surrounds us we are permitted to receive
it but a little while.
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading
Wherever I choose.
Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? Will you come
Travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?