Written for and read at my friends’ Sally and Nigel’s wedding …
Nigel and Sally, oh Nigel and Sally
Connected on Facebook and got rather pally
Commenting, messaging, poking online
They talked on the phone for five hours at a time
They went for a picnic, first date in the park
With a blanket and sandwiches purchased from Mark’s
And Nigel felt love pumping hot through his veins
When he found Sally reading his books about trains
They went round the stations, admiring the tiles
Nigel was guiding his Sally for miles
And then he went off to a union rally
Sweet solidarity, Nigel and Sally
On holiday, Southport and Liverpool too
As Sally took Nigel back home where she grew
The feel of the sand and the smell of the sea
The bonding of us, me and you, you and me
So stuff the euonymus, tennis and lime
Let’s paint the town red and go have a good time
At theatres and concerts with Emerald and May
To castles, cathedrals, museums, V and A
Nigel and Sally, oh Nigel and Sally
Romantic encounters and places to dally
Paired on the Pullman with fun in their finery
Lowering the tone at the posh Burton Winery
Went to Another Place, wondered and walked
And swung past the figure art, buried in talk
Stood with the statues and stared out to sea
Together in tides, she and he, he and she
It isn’t all glamour and nights out in style
It’s life with the little things done with a smile
The shopping, the cooking, the day’s chores all done
The beautiful ordinary, shared with The One
Distance and work may have kept them apart
Toiling all hours puts a strain on the heart
So undervalued by government snobs
Class at the coalface in life-serving jobs
Sally and Nigel, oh Sally and Nigel
Now he’s looking groomsome and she’s being bridal
John Betjeman’s ode to Miss Joan Hunter Dunn
Has nothing on Nigel and Sally and son
