Impressions of an Optimist

I couldn’t see the scars
Across your chest
Or the wrinkled skin
Under your eyes

I couldn’t see the countless times
Your heaving breath became a sigh
Or when the froth lined your mouth
And cramps belied the times you almost died

I couldn’t see that drop of tear
Pooling on the vision of your eye
And the times you pulled strands of your hair
As means to escape your horrific surmise

I could only see your hand tremble as
You tried to pick up something new
A long-lost passion flicker through the depths
And for a while you were renewed again
An era passed before your mind
You turned it inside out again
I couldn’t see the ugly things
I just saw your beautiful, smiling face