FACES
H. W. Bryce
—a free range poem
Have you ever looked into a face
And wondered
Where it’s been?
What lies behind those mysterious eyes?
What secrets do those wrinkles hold?
What would enfold if you asked?
Would the eyes glare and put you off?
Or would the ‘worry crinkle’ at the corners
Soften into smile lines?
Trust.
An act of faith
Is all it takes to ask. Phrase
It right, and you get the smile, and a wonderful
Intimate conversation.
Oh, it might be a one-off, but
It would be a memorable one.
Perhaps you saved the person’s day?
Perhaps that distant look was
loneliness.
Perhaps your unexpected flattery of
Attention was a gift to a lonely soul.
Perhaps, even, your friendly face
Just opened up a door into that lonely
Soul, and
Perhaps
this (just might be) “the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
(an open-faced relationship?)
Well, even if the stranger’s face rebuffed
You with an icy glare and perhaps a gruff
Harrumph!, nothing much was lost
Between you. After all, there was nothing
There to begin with.
Well, what can you do facing such a face
As the mind muses while stumped
For a subject for a poem. The poetic mood
Was there, but the Muse was not. She was
Absent in action. She often takes holidays.
Especially, it seems, when you are needy.
Perhaps it’s time to go out and wander the streets.
Plenty of faces out there. Even if still masked
Against the prejudices that are so endemic.
There. You are free to cast this array of
Characters into appropriate evil customers,
Over whom you can wield your unlimited
Power of invention to overcome whatsoever
Evil these evil characters might be up to.
After all, such sinister actors must be dealt with.
If we are to have any peace at all.
PS: While we are in such an analytical frame
Of mind,
Avoid all mirrors.
I know. We’re afraid of homeless people.
Did you know?
They have souls.
They have
Minds.
They have everything that you have
Except
A way to make a living.
And
A home.
And we worry about our smile lines…
And a friendly face is a
Friendly face.
— —
And there is so much more behind a face.
