My Ode To Annie

She always had the brightest smile, one could see it from a mile and Annie knew how beautiful it was! She had the smallest heart, and when it gave...it was the biggest; Annie gave more, not less! Her portrait hangs on the front wall color sage, her joyful image as innocent as a babe... I look up and meet those radiant eyes! My ode to Annie on a Fall evening with crackling fire I had protected her from darkness and dire... even when the world's doors would have opened up! Oh, did I mention the time she lost her front tooth on the school bus? She came home crying, running from every kid who heard the fuss... Annie found it later in her winter coat and buried in the backyard! She never knew her dad and wished had one, but Annie saw that father in me and thought I was awesome... she looked at me with tenderness and really understood! My ode to Annie on a Fall evening thirty years after, when this thought stroke me and made me a writer... forever remembering that heart which changed me! My ode to Annie whose life reflects mine, my ode to Annie...a young soul so divine; my ode to remember her until I'll have breath!