Slam Poetry

  In honor of attending my first Poetry Slam

last night, I thought I'd share the incredible 

piece written & performed by our dear friend

Josh for our wedding back in April.

WEDDING SLAM FOR MARK & AMANDA
I never thought I'd be a spectator at this art show.
I didn't know that Mark's Head Coach's playbook was painted Amanda.
That when God blended her husband's hues his heart bled Boston green.
His lean physique was lost in play-making on the Pulse court, 

scoring fruit by the basket.
He was asking for co-captain and got a work of art.
Her eyes dart across a room and like the Painter 

she envisions what loveliness could be.
She sees a star who serves like a Living Waterboy.
He sees a palette of passion reds and fashion threads,
A yellow curled ardent girl who heads blue soirees

and white middays at the yard sale.
I failed to predict the oneness of the artist and the athlete.
But now I see the kinetic beauty of this one flesh.
One sets the pick SL the other can roll.
One stays unseen so relief is more bold.
The odds favor this rookie masterpiece.
I think you'll play fine.
Just color your dreams inside parallel lines.
Find creative ways to keep smiles indelible despite uncertainty.
Frame your lives with eternity.
Permit each other to brighten your black with Jesus' pigment.
The perfect spouse is a figment of idle imaginations.
So after today's congratulations,
You must never question this decision.
Doing so is sinful derision and your commitment is already made.
Don't let it fade in the direct UV of "me" and "my way."
Ball hogs don't get a lot of play.
Pass the rock as often as you can 

and demand only face time with the Portrait-er.
Remember that you were commissioned for a purpose.
Together pound the hardwood surface 

until the roaring cloud of witnesses resounds with,
"Well done good and faithful forwards."
All your fans from courtside seats to nice box suites begin to scream.
The Painter-Coach enjoins his technicolor dreamteam.
Today the whistle blows.
Game on.

*photo by Matthew Lomanno