Friday, January 11, 2019

Sonnet on Seeing a Woman Smile





She was smiling about a memory she had;
From over fifty years ago of a walk on Sandy Beach
A memory about the end of her childhood
When Ryan had gently touched her face.

Her face has changed since then. Her smile
Is more assured and the look in her eye
Suggests that she hears distant melodies.
The voices of Alfred Apaka and the McGuires

Float through the salty mist, east of Aina Haina.
She had known Ryan for three years, but had thought
Him handsome only since Easter, never an inkling
That he would touch her, or be sent to Korea.

They never found his body. She found a husband
Six years later, lost him to her own memories.

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