Dreaming Of Flying Poem by Mary Champion

Just dreaming of flying and painting the smile
that haunted his pictures and marked out his style.
Just dreaming of flying and wishing that he
could break with convention and set himself free.

He strove for perfection he almost attained,
but unfinished wonders were much that remained,
revealing the measure of his restless soul.
Inspired Leonardo kept changing his role.

Sometimes, as the artist, his brush was sublime,
then seeking through science, ahead of his time.
Mysterious smiles for St John and St Anne -
the proud Tuscan lion seemed more than a man.

Still dreaming of flying, still coming back to
wild dreams about flying that would not come true.

Then with Giaconda he captured at last,
some sweet fascination from out of his past.
The men who have seen her have seen she is good.
They don't understand her, but feel understood.

Just dreaming of flying, and painting the smile,
and hiding the sadness. But once in a while
a glimpse of perfection was there at his hand.
At times Leonardo seemed more than a man.

Still dreaming of flying, still coming back to
wild dreams about flying that would not come true.
Still dreaming of flying, but all of the while,
still haunting his heart was the ghost of the smile.