There’s a softness to your eyes
that enchants, like morning light
gold-dusting through the blinds
when you’re half awake
and haven’t remembered your life
and all is beauty and hope.

There’s a bite to your smile.
You’ve taken strokes from destiny’s whip
and you’re only half ready to trust.
But your laugh is sincere,
the sound of someone blessed,
someone so filled with faith
she can’t help but forgive.

You said you keep a keyboard beside your bed
and play it before sleeping.
I see that in my head,
you unlacing each day’s melody,
laying the trail of night,
braiding the moonlight of your dreams.

It’s a beautiful image,
and vulnerable in a way
that makes me want to embrace you
until you nestle into my arms
like a lioness in the calm
of her forest den.

* * *

Wael Abdelgawad
Fresno, California
May 18, 2018