Draft 4

I was never the guy to understand art.
But there was this one painting I saw
Hung on the walls of a friend’s exhibit
That tugged at my heart strings because
It was a sad smile on the face of a beautiful girl.

That seems stupid you might just be inclined
To say, and knowing you, you probably would
Just say that, but not too long ago
You wore the same smile too.

And I tried a lot to wear it off
To tear it off, sometimes, forcibly
But I only made you cry because
I had the same smile too,
And a joker can’t make a clown happy-
Because we know the game and how it’s played
But there were moments when I briefly succeeded
And in those moments I fell in love with you

But, there was always a “but” involved
Be it things that couldn’t be helped or those
That shouldn’t be messed with, but always the hope
That I could make you smile without the sadness
Made me feel alive and want to try
Again and again,
But then one day,
You told me you’d fallen in love and
How happy you were and
How beautiful it was and
The “ands” never stopped and the “buts” never came

I saw you smile for the first time that day.
A smile unabashedly gleaming with happiness
Enough to drive any envy away
Or thoughts of malice, so much so that
I could’ve flown to the stars and copped you a comet
And it wouldn’t have made a lick of sense
Because you had already felt a chiming
With a soul that turned coal hearts dense
And then diamonds, or that’s how I think of him
And I love him for that and how he loves you

I asked the artist how he came up with the painting
He told me it was a portrait of a friend of his
Who used to be depressed, but now was married
Happily and with two kids
That’s why he called the painting “The Parting
Of life in Throes and Life Yet Unlived.”