A Smile in Space

Why do glee filled eyes and joyful smiles last so short a time?
Why do moments of this kind come so infrequent?

Sometimes those times of momentary joy come silently
They appear in quiet spaces in the oddest places
When no one is looking and it’s cloudy
When the sun is slightly piercing the cumulus
and touching with shadows cast on a single soul
She sits alone on a bench amidst a conifer maple and oak

A salient breach of solemnity arises encircles
papa and mama, octogenarians, sitting together
quietly with arms entwined into one another’s
staring into space, a space known only to them
she gently bends her neck to lean her head on his shoulder
a sense of exasperation abounds the two of them
yet a soft and gentle gasp of fulfillment
to their lifelong moments in time

A tiny tot sits alone on a thick patch of green
interspersed with golden strands of wheat
blowing gently in the breeze as she turns
to look at me with those large hazel blues
and a smile that only innocence could demand

If only this smile could pierce the gray of day
cascading everlasting rays of sunshine
upon those who sit alone
in the dark and cold
casting shadows of lonely souls