Essence

I sought your essence through the darkening light, 

To see the source of all your smiles and frowns.

I pondered how to serve this lovely sight,

Recraft your beauty with my verbs and nouns.

Your eyes, that like an autumn ocean shine,

Resist the pen that tries to paint their blue, 

But my pen betrays your perfect rhyme

By painting what it sees and is not true.

I would not wish to capture what is free,

I’ll leave the pen with newfound mission –

To let your silent beauty speak to me,

And choose not words, but rather choose to listen.

What I found I won’t and can’t reveal,

In words that work in order to conceal.