The Ancient Churchyard

by Sting

It feels different being married, as if we have suddenly become strangers again, shy with each other, a little afraid and tentative, where in the church in front of our families we had played our roles with such surety. We will spend the afternoon walking around the ancient churchyard, marveling at the ancient weathered gravestones among the lilac trees, calculating the lifetimes of the dead. Some lives had been cut tragically short, others lived well into old age, then there were couples who had died in the same year, one after the other, as if life was no longer worth living alone. Life seems so random, so temporary. We both realize that we are no longer playing games, and that marriage is a frightening commitment, and that we will have to be careful with each other. A cloud briefly obscures the sun, just as a chill northeasterly breeze picks up and shakes the blossoms from the lilac trees, and drives us inside.

6S

Sting, whose birth name is Gordon Sumner, was the lead singer and bassist of The Police. His six sentences are taken from Broken Music, a memoir. He's referring to his first marriage to Frances Tomelty, the collapse of which was the inspiration for "Every Breath You Take." Today is his 55th birthday.