After the wedding
the prince and the goosegirl
rode off in their coach to live in a hall of mirrors.
After the wedding
roses sprang from the graveyard and twined their way
right up the church, to the very top of the steeple.
After the wedding
little white doves flew down
and pecked out the eyes of the two jealous sisters.
After the wedding
the soldier shouldered his musket
and returned to the wars.
And after the wedding
the orphan child limped home in paper-soled shoes
over a causeway brittle with broken glass.
''After the Wedding': copyright Katherine Langrish 2011
'Love Among the Ruins': Edward Burne-Jones
