Reliquary Poem by Patti Masterman

I have seen your eyes so grave;
The quiet, gentle hands that hold
The little book; and your thoughts, brave.
The lined pages that they enfold:
Wistful dreams you'd scarcely dare.
Through all you've seen, your heart's stayed pure;
Such innocence in man is rare.
All the pain and tears, endured
Without self pity or revenge-
Still sweet, still just, and never vain.
Others might have been unhinged,
But your soul is yet unstained.
In another age, you would have been
A poet, a seer, of some acclaim.

But you were steered by fate or wind
Away from any hint of fame.
Even from comforts none deny:
The road's your home, your roof,
The sky; for all of that, you do not sigh.
The last, your heart, you gave to me;
And it more dear than any jewel,
That earth can hide within it's dust-
Though life and love can both be cruel,
No more demeaned, your fragile trust.
A light at the end of the darkest hours.
Your heart's the only grail I find;
That holy, fragrant field of flowers-
Myself become beloveds shrine.