Dispel Fear And Hesitation

for Gina and Claire, on their wedding day

The fire alarm of desire, I want to pull it,
drive the engine through town--
down back alleys, up billboard boulevards,
past yards where laundry waves crisply on the line.
With a bullhorn to my lips, I proclaim this instant.
All the yeses you've stored up for another day,
why not unleash them like dogs?
Calling housewives and hairdressers, plumbers,
children with your bouncing balls, railroad men and miners!
Flee whatever closed place locks you in.
Come out here, into the breeze, into the heat of an afternoon
that dispels fear and hesitation. The confetti of peach
blossoms your name next to mine,
her name next to his, sends it
like salt spray to every distant shore.