The portrait of a person
Is always thickly layered, covered with grime
No matter what the measure of
Beauty and power you glimpse
At first light


If you would just
Take your sturdy hands
Wipe it all away, unravel the illusion
You would see,
All this one has to offer

Past the shiny eyes
The bones that make up
Her delicate facial structure
Beyond the initial presumptions
Isn't there better in her, if you lay her looks aside?

Not as physically beautiful any more
Is a body with only the bones?
But doesn't knowing her fears
Her thoughts, her desires
Make her so much more than an anonymous lovely face?

Knowing that her nightmares keep her from bed
That she cares about the world's future
Wants to study so she can become someone better
Can you connect to her now
Without all the old smokescreens and mirrors in place?

With that one insight into her reality, the moment over
Do you think that you will forget
What she is really like?
Or next time, when you see her

Are you going to learn to love what's behind those eyes?