Billy Maiden

Maisou

Walking down the street,

My wife in hand, conversing

About her cousin.

Bewilderment present within

The stares of the market people

At the princess & the pauper.

Neither of us gave

Any attention to them,

For they didn't understand

What today meant

To both of us.

Flowers in her free hand

And a headband in mine,

Her face held high…barely,

While my face remained hidden

Beneath my bangs of Sunlight

That lacked their

Ethereal radiance.

She looked over to me,

Squeezing my hand only

As tight as gentle hands could,

And made my oceanic view gaze over,

Into her own lavender windows.

Understanding & compassion,

Filling the creases and cracks

Of two worlds shattered only a year ago

With a true love only found

In fairytales or cartoons.

I forced my head high,

Letting her know

That her lips need speak no words

In order to bring me back to her.

We reached the field,

A ruby gem in the middle,

Held high by the souls

That sacrificed their lives

For the peace we achieved.

As my wife's hand left,

Kneeling down with the flowers

As she wracked with occasional sobs,

Praying in tongues to

Her cousin.

My hand tightened

Around the headband

That hid the scar

That faded with his life

On that fateful day.

Him & I never got along until

A few years back,

And I had to duel him

For that nose to come down.

A genius of open palms,

Beaten by an unpredictable orange

With a nasty left hook.

Brothers in loneliness,

Anger & despair embracing

Our younger years until

I beat him.

I made it clear as I

Opened his all-seeing eyes,

Cured his blindness,

And made him know

That he wasn't alone,

Because my own eyes

Had seen the same thing.

Brothers in wisdom,

A genius & an idiot

Walking side by side past narrowed eyes,

Our camaraderie

Never swayed by

Their scornful faces,

As they looked at me

With the hatred and contempt

Of a thousand demons.

The same eyes that feasted

Upon him as the royalty

He knew he was,

But never did he

Stoop to their level,

Instead seeing me

For the nasty left hook

That changed his life.

Tears welled in my eyes,

As I looked one final tine

At the headband that was going

Home to its rightful owner.

I kneeled beside my wife,

Silent in prayer,

As the two of us

Paid homage

To the man who died,

For the ring on my wife's finger.