Poetry

A Triptych

by

Jason Cebalo

Sometimes her smile is weightless, totally.
She tells a friendly joke, her smile is like
The autumn breeze when it is perfectly
A balance of the waning tide of warmth
And waxing cool.

A smile of simple fun which calls to mind
A simple tune played on a single pipe
It holds the promise of a happiness
That's unambiguous, that holds no hint
Of anything to fear.

This smile does touch her eyes but only just,
The faintest hint of starlight shines across
The surface of those lovely pools of brown
But leaves their depths unreached.

Sometimes her smile is balanced, light but firm
Like when someone pays her a compliment.
Her smile is like a late spring wind so full
Of life and carrying the promise of
The coming summer?s warmth.

A smile of happiness, a solid smile,
This smile is like a baroque string quartet,
Not simple but a thing made up of parts
With each part weighed and measured so to make
The ideal contribution to the whole.

This smile, lights up her eyes, a deep bright flame
Shines out of each to show to all the world
Her happiness is not a surface thing
But reaches to the fiery intellect
Beneath

Sometimes her smile is weighty, when she speaks
About her love of science or of books.
A smile that's like the wind of early spring
So full of hope but carrying a bite
Of winter's cold.

A smile of joy, with all the terror which
That word implies. A smile that's like a work
Of Wagner as if one has now been brought
Into Athena's temple and could gaze
Upon the altar where the sacrifice
Is made and Paris' false judgment is
Reversed.

This smile illuminates all of her face
But most of all her eyes, their deepest depths
Shine brightly, like that old, chaotic sea
On which the Dove of Fire stretched out His wings.