For Maura

The love we share might rate no beauty prize Aesthetics playing servant to its plot Seen best through finger blinds drawn cross the eyes A love festooned in Hallmark rhymes it's not Still we alone stood witness at its face The provenance of each disfig'ring weal Inflicted wounds our tongues dare not retrace Kept moving on and left the past to heal For love is our reward for knowing such That self-survival is a pauper's end Without your love I'd not have learned that much The richness of my life's to comprehend Love's beauty's lies not open but at heart You are my depth, my love my work of art