naissance

the painless smile
she wears as a flower

bears its petals,
displays the softness

of a rose
hiding sharp thorns.

the notes of laughter
leaving her throat

waltzes across the room
like the river's mist
coming to shore.

one would not imagine
the sharpness in the irises

of her eyes nor
the cutting intentions
resting in her cause.

a glance in one direction,
a gaze at another's station
reveal the losses,

the cruelty that give birth
to the most unkind of
human intention.