To Love Is Not To Possess By James Kavanagh

A Beautiful poem about love and marriage is a wonderful way to make your wedding ceremony romantic and relaxed. It gives time for the couple and their guests to pause, relax and listen to some wonderfully crafted words.

This is one of my favourites. It is a modern classic about how respect, equality and independence is an integral part of true love. It was written by James Kavanaugh, an American Priest who was highly critical about the many outdated views of his church.

To Love Is Not To Possess By James Kavanaugh

 To love is not to possess,
To own or imprison,
Nor to lose one's self in another.
Love is to join and separate,
To walk alone and together,
To find a laughing freedom
That lonely isolation does not permit.
It is finally to be able
To be who we really are
No longer clinging in childish dependency
Nor docilely living separate lives in silence,
It is to be perfectly one's self
And perfectly joined in permanent commitment
To another--and to one's inner self.
Love only endures when it moves like waves,
Receding and returning gently or passionately,
Or moving lovingly like the tide
In the moon's own predictable harmony,
Because finally, despite a child's scars
Or an adult's deepest wounds,
They are openly free to be
Who they really are--and always secretly were,
In the very core of their being
Where true and lasting love can alone abide.