Smiles of an Aztec by J.B.

Smiles of an Aztec

Pretty pools swirling paints
On stained hands strong and skilled
A magical mind captured by body’s constraints
A brimming cup of life was filled
You stood tall as timber

Merry days beneath magnolia’s magnificent bloom
Wandering through gardens
Sniffing pale peony’s perfume
Starting spring with floral visions
You stood tall as timber

In fuzzy arms I felt at home
An exploration of smoothing scalp and softening neck
From which comfort flowed like tides of sea foam
Glinting in your gleaming eyes the smiles of an Aztec
You stood tall as timber

A dutiful master of the dark lens
Behind your photographs I found a friend
Diffident worries your camera did cleanse
To all passions your talent did you lend
You stood tall as timber

I loved you so
But my youthful heart learned little
And your tales I will never know
When my youthful mind ripened your wise began to whittle
You stood tall as timber

Your mind was unraveled
Your body was intact
That day you almost died
Carried the same impact
Those timber planks began to crack

The valiant body carried a vacant mind
All remained of the man I once knew was a bountiful beautiful booming laugh
The landscaped paintings swirled
And the loving man uncontrollably twirled
From the serene end all that remains the promise of a painting
So the dancing
May be lived once again

Poem by J.B.