The other day I came across an old mole-skin, black notebook my wife Anne had given me on my birthday when we were dating (including a poem which my friend Nate Drew put music to and which I sang to Anne after I asked her to marry me… a totally different story). Instantly knowing what it was, I reviewed it with fondness.
In its early pages are some overwrought and very loving poems I wrote for Anne. But after several pages nearly all the rest of the notebook is dedicated to things I wrote during mine and Anne’s honeymoon in Nauvoo. Those who know my play The Fading Flowing will also see my pre-occupation on David Hyrum Smith at this time, as I was in the midst of revising the play during that time.
After our wedding we went to Salt Lake City for our honeymoon for the weekend and saved up our major trip to Missouri and Illinois Mormon History sites a few months later in the late Spring. As I looked through the poems, quotes, notes, and drawings that I filled the notebook with, a gentle stirring came back to me. It was a beautiful time during mine and Anne’s early marriage and I wanted to share some of those pressed flowers of my life. This is a simpler time in my life, but a beautiful one.
Freedom’s Bonds
by Mahonri Stewart
Cramped Cold Creased–
Six men in a prison.
Saints not criminals
A prophet, not a traitor
Like their Ancient Master
Unjust Justice
afflicts their backs
and cools their lungs.
They’re fed afflicted flesh,
but they will not eat.
They wait for their Father’s feast
when, lifted from cramped dungeons,
they inherit kingdoms.
–May 3, 2005, Liberty Jail Missouri
Continue reading “Leaves of Nauvoo: Reflections of Mormon History From my Honeymoon”
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