The First Truth
The first thing I notice
is never the voice,
not the clothes,
or the introduction.
It is the eyes.
Their color is only the beginning—
blue, brown, green, gray—
less important than what is inside.
Do they carry warmth,
or the chill of a door left closed?
Are they awake to the world,
or dulled by distance?
Do they settle on my eyes,
or drift beyond me
as though I were already disappearing?
Then I look at the mouth.
A smile can bloom easily enough,
but does it reach upward?
Do the eyes match the mouth's message
or do they remain silent,
strangers to the lips that smile below?
When eyes and mouth part company,
I begin to wonder
which one is speaking.
That silence between them
is louder than words.
Something has remained unsaid.
A smile belongs to intention
But the eyes belong to truth.
Eyes have never learned to lie.
The first thing I notice is the eyes.
This was written for my prompt at What's Going On? -- Eyes
How true this is. It is unsettling when people wear sunglasses and you can't see the expression in their eyes.
ReplyDeleteWhew! That's quite an observation Mary! "Do they settle on my eyes,
ReplyDeleteor drift beyond me / as though I were already disappearing?" This person might turn out to be a scheming one. We all love a warm, genuine smile.
"A smile belongs to intention. But the eyes belong to truth" is such an amazing observation. This poem will stay with me.
ReplyDelete"Their color is only the beginning—
ReplyDeleteblue, brown, green, gray—
less important than what is inside."
Such an insightful poem to look inside the eyes, to compare to the message in the mouth, and to note "Eyes have never learned to lie."
Beautifully done, Mary!
Eyes are very important, the window to the soul. Your poem has so much truth in it, Mary, especially about smiles reaching upward, with the eyes matching the mouth’s message. And your message is matched by the circularity of your poem!
ReplyDeleteA great prompt and I agree the eyes really do tell the story and give you a measure of who someone is - Jae
ReplyDeleteLove your last stanz. So true indeed.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the importance of eyes meeting yours, And meeting smile.
ReplyDeleteSeparation is something i never thought about. Interesting!