What is Marriage?

I’ve been asking people at bars,

what marriage means to them.

I haven’t gotten any concise answers.

Or anything that I could adopt as my own.

Marriage means unity to one,

while to one means companionship.

Marriage means stopping 

and following your partner to the depths of the universe.

Marriage is travelling the world, 

And you stop.

Look beside you,

and realise there is no one to experience this with.

I understood that.

But I still do not know what marriage means to me.

The first thought that comes to your mind

is that perhaps you haven’t experienced it.

The different forms of marriage

differ for each person.

Based on culture and religion.

And perhaps one’s upbringing.

And what does marriage mean

to a girl whose view of marriage,

Is tainted by the hurt of an absent father?

An angry mother.

And an abusive childhood.

Are my views defined by my experiences?

Or do I form my own?

I want to get married.

But why? 

Maybe,

I am trying to change my narrative.

~ Shantey Moabelo, 25