they came bearing gifts for the bride
welcomed with applauses and ululations: wide-eyed
sweaty palms collide
exclamations echo on walls adorned
with family portraits - smiles frozen in time
like framed grains of sand from hourglasses past

but next door they came somber
carrying their crosses - lumbers of sorrow
frowns too burrowed to number
stifled wails remember the portrait on the wall
sole frozen smile to echo a hall of sighs
spilled sands gather for an hourglass shattered

call-and-response chants like ripples in a pond
giggles undulate across infectious like yawns
gyrating dances employ prances of joy
rabid jubilation unleashed, blessed with shrieks and mirth
as feet stomps rattle the earth
on crisp carpets rolled out for a new chapter's birth

but next door grieves in gurgles of screams
spasms of anguish for jolted and tarnished dreams
gyrate in outbursts at rapid outcomes cursed
pursed lips pause for breath and plunge again into cries
swollen eyes beg for penance
creased pages in a chapter left mid-sentence

at first breath, engaged to the dust
arranged marriage, promised to death
next door is here