"Wedding"
If rings exchanged do signify a wedding,
or a couple standing face to face
making a promise, then it was a wedding
I dreamed, all draped with garlands of green meaning.
August meanwhile was reeking with black smoke.
Day's broadcast or night's scenario:
which message was—was either message—true?
Confusedly through sleep I recognized
my bridal pair. But at the same time, something
pressed against the haven of the night.
Sheet lightning? The air trembled
as if, hooves thundering, a nightmare galloped
past the house along the empty road.
Summer was waning. I was getting old.
The vision of the wedding fell away
and launched me, weary, into a red morning.
The world was warring, drowning, catching fire.
Rachel Hadas teaches English at the Newark campus of Rutgers University. Her new book is The Ache of Appetite, and she is co-editor of The Greek Poets: Homer to the Present.
For Slate's poetry submission guidelines, click spacerhereyeshyperlinkPoetry SubmissionsSlate reads new poems from Oct. 1 to April 30. Manuscripts sent between May 1 and Sept. 30 will not be considered.To submit poems: Send, as a single attached document, up to three poems of no more than 50 lines each to editors@slatepoems.com. Use the poet's name for the subject line of the e-mail and for the title of the attachment. We prefer Word documents (.doc or .docx) to PDFs.Please include a brief, professional cover letter, including publication history, in the body of your email. Please limit submissions to one per poet per annual reading period. Simultaneous submissions are OK. Slate no longer accepts poetry submissions by mail. The email address editors@slatepoems.com is for poetry submissions only (or to notify editors of acceptance elsewhere of a poem under consideration at Slate). Other inquiries, etc., will not be addressed.10000false220061444537PMWednesdayJanJanuary161/4/2006 9:45:37 PM63271989937000000020061444537PMWednesdayJanJanuary161/4/2006 9:45:37 PM632719899370000000.Clickhere to visit Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project site.Click here for an archive of "Poet's Choice" columns from the Washington Post.


