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.
