Have you ever looked into
the eyes of a portraiture?
In these wells of the soul
lay the expressive depths
of the human spirit,
the pain and sorrow,
the hopes and dreams,
the love and the joy,
and peace and reconciliation.
On the picture boards
at wakes and funerals,
I peer into the eyes of
the deceased, trying to
catch a glimpse of what
they were thinking, what
they were feeling at the
various times of their lives
portrayed from infancy
through their school years,
from courtship to weddings,
from young parenthood
to adolescent parenthood
to grandparenthood.
I love to pour through
my photographs of you,
generally late at night
when you are off to work,
slowly, carefully savoring
the intricate pattern of
shading, highlighting
your cheeks, your smile,
and most especially,
your eyes,
your dark brown eyes,
in whose mysterious depths
resides the beautiful
portraiture of God.
As she bleeds, she heals
As she pleads, she feels
As she breastfeeds, she builds
As she hugs, she guides
As she nags, she teaches
As she nurses, she nurtures
As she cleans, she cares
As she cooks, she raises
She raises newborns into childhood
She raises daughters into womanhood
She raises sons into manhood
She raises women into motherhood
She raises men into fatherhood
She raises parents into parenthood
She raises sisters into sisterhood
She raises brothers into brotherhood
As she is a rock, she is strong
As she is woman, she is never wrong
As she is mother, she cries
As she is vulnerable, she protects
As she is peace, she loves
As she is intuitive, she plans
As she is beautiful, she attracts
As she is powerful, she leads
She leads children into adulthood
She leads adults into grandparenthood
She leads priests into priesthood
She leads bishops into sainthood
She leads angels into godhood
She leads kings into kinghood
She leads neighbours into a neighbourhood
She leads nations into nationhood
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