On the Marriage of Olivia White and Josiah Ritchey, 9.16.2023

On the Marriage of Olivia White and Josiah Ritchey, 9.16.2023 Joseph Harrison (bio) Hymen, Goddess of Marriage, consecrateThe union of my niece, Olivia White,And her Josiah Ritchey, save this dateIn annals of the permanently right: While he, the busy entomologist,Discriminates damsel from dragonflies,And she, the dedicated pharmacist,Measures the healing potions she applies, May her quick merriment and his good cheerEnable them to keep a room apartWhere true love only deepens by the yearAs they stay face to face and heart to heart, Remain the best friends through all sorts of weather,And raise their children, and grow old together. [End Page 19] Joseph Harrison recited the poem above at his niece's wedding in Versailles, Kentucky, a week before his diagnosis with an inoperable brain tumor. Joe left this world on February 13 surrounded by his loved ones in his Baltimore home. He expressed great gratitude for Dr. Judy Huang and the entire team at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and asked that this poem be published in their honor. Joseph Harrison joseph harrison (1957–2024) was the author of six books of poems and a new Collected Poems (Waywiser Press, 2024). A graduate of Yale University and Johns Hopkins University, he was the recepient of honors that included a Guggenheim fellowship, and he was the senior American editor of the Waywiser Press and longtime director of its Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize.