In a child,
innocent,
unscathed by the world
you look.

In a lover,
your soft,
sensitive
gaze
is a highway
to the soul.

In a mother,
you are
bottomless
wells
of wisdom,
drawing
buckets
of advice,
beckoning
a listening
ear.

In a soldier,
your determination
paces
throughout your
courts,
resolutely guarding
any
trace of pain.

In a prisoner,
you build
futile
concrete walls
for
shelter and security,
trying
to recreate
what's been
stripped
away.

What poor,
rash
choices
rip
away your purity,
and mar
you
with burdens
and guilt?
Who can replace your
bricks
of sorrow
and
lighten
your consuming
load?

Even in death,
when encroaching
darkness
threatens to
extinguish
your sparkle,
you still bring
unrivaled
hope,
savoring
every
remembered
look.