I’m sorry I’m not there
to celebrate your love.
I hope it is a good love
a strong love
a love that will stand the test of time
unlike the last one
or the one before that
or the many others that preceded
your long and elastic life
until now.
I am sure this one alone
will not snap.

I regret being unable
to help usher in
this new era of joy and rapture
and beauty and pleasure
and high spirits
in the face of all others
but you announced this new era so quickly
after the last
and I had plans.

I hope you forgive my absence
but sometimes
somebody’s got to go it alone
and get things done on his own
and anyway
the third season of Better Chauffeurs
was simply not going to watch itself.

Enjoy your miracles
on this special blessed day
and I’ll enjoy mine.
I’ll try harder to be there for you
if I ever get another chance.