Wedding Ceremony Reading: Home by Imelda May

This week’s wedding ceremony reading is a poem called Home from Ireland’s multi-talented performer, Imelda May. The Irish singer-songwriter is not only a gifted musician, she also uses her amazing way with words to create an impressive catalogue of poetry. One of Imelda’s most famous poems is a piece called Home which is a beautiful salute to real love and true intimacy from her spoken word album Slip of the Tongue. It shows that home doesn’t necessarily have to be a place, it can be with a person. Home perfectly encapsulates the vow you’re about to take, as it’s a promise to be somebody’s everything, when they feel like they have nothing. If you haven’t read it before, enjoy this refreshingly honest take on love and commitment.

Home by Imelda May

“What is love?”, you ask
My head spins, recallin’ every song
Story, words, and glorious things I ever heard
Every cliché rings in my ears
Like a bell announcin’ the birth of a new day
Or the death of yesterday
Depends on how you hear it
I haven’t a clue
So I ask love, “What are you?”
Love replies
Can’t you feel me? I’m here
I’m the one holdin’ your hand, remindin’ you not to forget me
I’m the warm feelin’ in your belly when you don’t know why
I’m the ache to the core when one
Someone sways to the other side of a vibe
I’m the tingle on your skin when it’s
Touched by the tip of a thrill you can rely on

The knowing, when your eyes meet eyes that recognise yours
And hold you, loose enough to move freely
But tight enough to never let you fall
I’m the breath you take in and let all the way out to the end
When you’re held and your shoulders drop into arms
You flop that feel like a blanket of truth
And wrap you and sooth you
To the moon you thought was in the sky

I’m the backbone that holds it all together
The vertebrae stacked on top of each other
When it’s all gone pear-shaped and wrong
I’m the bitin’ on your lip keepin’ it zipped
Swallowin’ words that could wound and rip apart
I’m choosin’ kindness over bein’ right
I’m the fight in you when you don’t know how
The life in you when it’s gone right out
I’m life when I’m near, hope without fear

I’m nothin’ fancy in a world drippin’ in gold
But a beautiful jewel never bought, never sold
And when you open your heart and let me in alone
You’ll know who I am, because I feel like home

Still looking for the perfect wedding ceremony reading? See our Essential List of Ceremony Readings which are broken down into categories to make it super easy.