The Wedding Is A Sensible Affair For The Two Old Lovers
by Cassandra Whitaker

                                         who wait on each other       with an audience— everyone laughs there is no booze 
 —hardly anyone smokes—not even the band—     as polite as they can be with the songbook
                                 It’s official— at last—at last—      over the long ache of it— tears of beaded jewels— 
               hotel light— cheers and clapping claps     Desire sleeps in their senses  
               Everyone has slept with everyone else      —or wanted to
                                                                 or meant to     Desire is a curious spirit  Here—in recovery it settles 
                                                                                             in the chocolate mousse— 
        everyone devours—savoring the last bite—     napkins reveal the story  At last— desire enlarges 
                           as night falls on the celebrants—     despite dry glasses—dry noses
                                         the sober chicken dinner     A couple disappears into love again
                                  —behind a faux colonnade—      another joins—laughter collaborates 
                                    with the band—the dancing     already hammering their hearts into joyful hammers 
                     —how their blood flows celebrating      —two old lovers
                                 —hand in hand dandied alike      —each a half of each
     you can see where they snap to— snap apart

---

Cassandra Whitaker (she/they)  is a trans writer who lives in rural Virginia.  Whit's work has been published in Michigan Quarterly Review,  Conjunctions, The Mississippi Review, Shenandoah, Lambda Literary Review, and other places. She is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and an educator. Wolf Devouring A Wolf Devouring A Wolf,  their first collection, was published by Jackleg Press in 2025. Wolfs-den.page