"This is one of the first poems I wrote after leaving my ex-husband.   It is about someone who has a dark side that is never seen....to all but his wife, who in this case, was me.   And that someone was my first husband.   He was someone who was very highly thought of and had the repect of his family and friends.   Nobody saw the man who accused his wife of affairs or "coming on" to his best friend.   No one saw the man who cruelly belittled his wife, reducing her to tears.   No one saw him hit her, and no one saw the bruises.   No one saw the side of him that she hated and feared.   They only saw the man they all knew ~ the man that she loved, and always would.   It depicts the hidden darker side of his abusive nature ~ the one we never see when we choose to marry them. The one that no one else sees, but us. I called it "Veiled Vows" because I felt that even on our wedding day, there was a side to him I had not yet discovered....a side of him that was hidden, that maybe he didn't even know of himself....until something happened in his life to make it surface.   I do not in any way excuse his behaviour or abuse toward me; but I do know that he was unwell, and was suffering from a form of mental illness....which I believe was hidden from both of us on our wedding day.   I don't think it was entirely his fault, suffering from this illness, but at the same time, it does not excuse his behaviour either.

I chose this set because it depicted the sadness of the time, despite the memory of a beautiful wedding day. And I call it "Veiled Vows" because I was not the only one wearing a veil that day."