Perceive

Can you see the age in her bones?
Can you see the love in the color of her eyes?

Can you see all the years' laugher in her cheeks?
Can you see how she's been loved by the crinkle in her clothes?

Can you see the forgotten teenage lust in the click of her heels?
Can you see her wealth on her big toe?

Can you see the losses of loved ones by the bend of her knees?
Can you see the happiness sitting on her earlobe?

Can you see the grief just below her forehead?
Can you see her dreams in her hips?

Can you see all the men she's had in the curve
Of her cheeckbone?

Can you see the devotion she has, lost somewhere in her eyebrows?
Can you guess how many kids she has in the shape of her nose?

Can you see the abortion at 17 in the perfect shape of her teeth?
Can you see the two failed marriages in the curve of her elbow?

Can you see the ceremony, when everyone stood and clapped
Just for her, in the arch of her back?

Can you see how bright and smart she is in the little outlines on her palm?
Can you see that her favorite movie is Ghost by the color of her hair?

If this woman stood before you, would you see all that there is to see?