Paper Anniversary

The first anniversary is the one,
That tradition says is paper.
But I feel that jewellery,
Might be a whole lot safer.

But I take out a pen and write you this,
To tell you how I feel,
After a year of ups and downs,
And everything that is real.

The reality of everyday life,
Comes with being married,
And a year of being with you,
Has given perspectives, varied.

You've taught me things I've never known,
And shown me sights unseen.
You've made me better than who I was,
More a man than I have been.

You've given to me respect and love.
More than I conceived.
You're open to me as none have been,
My love for you received.

The first year's the hardest, everyone says.
But with you I found it the best.
Each moment revealing something anew,
Let struggles be for the rest.

It hardly seems a year has gone.
It came and went so fast.
But if we have a hundred more,
Our love will surely last.

I'm confident to say these things,
And put them down with ink,
Because I know you one year more,
And love the more I think.

And thinking is the thing I do,
But loving, YOU have taught.
Married one year now to you,
My heart you've surely caught.

Future anniversaries promise,
Gold and diamond things.
How good it is that number one,
Is paper and not rings.

We should write on parchment fine,
All things that we do love,
About the one we chose last year,
And thank the sky above.

And so I write this freely,
After one short year with you,
And hope that you do understand,
How much I love you true.