As I wait at the head of the aisle

As I wait at the head of the aisle
On Dad's arm, about to be wed,
I remember the light of your smile

In the days when I still was a child,
And you kissed me goodnight in my bed.
And I think, as I wait by the aisle,

Of an innocent world without guile,
An Eden where goodness is bred:
Lit by the light of your smile,

A place where one tarries awhile,
Sheltered from sorrow and dread.
I wait by the head of the aisle

With a gift that no years can defile,
A beauty no winter can shed.
And I walk in the light of your smile

To a life that was mine all the while,
And a love that is just as you said:
A love that waits down the aisle
For the warmth and the light of my smile.

---Nicholas Gordon