The Ease and Charm of You (rev)

There is infinity of wisdom in your smile
that would deny the winsome wit that lies
at back of it; and then the droll and cheeky
Svénska troll of you which peeps out from
the flimsy drape in which you sheet your
public soul, an urchin bold, a squirming
sprite who claims a manic tithe to steal
with ease our ears and eyes and hearts.

It is not easy to dismiss your smile or snub
a stronger draught of it, or pass the impish
guile infused with honeyed tones of liquor
dews that drip from curve of Nordic lip. It’s
just as hard to think of you as sad as stone
or cold as ice embalmed in time that never
passed; never passed and never thawed,
and never danced and never soared.

The furnace there that is your smile exhibits
warmth that mitigates the frozen fates, over-
whelms their frozen hearth, warmth debased
in languorous grace, subtle charm uncommon-
placed with cheerful heart.

A light appears to shine from you, the kind of
light which glows in happy times, light which
shows no darkened tones, throws no sharp-
edged shadows. At last we know the true
length and breadth and depth of you, and
breathe with ease the same enchanted air,
we also feel the nascent breeze that trifles in
your vasty hair; at last we know the ease and
charm of you, and feel as free to tell you too.
© I.D. Carswell

To Our Beautiful Svénska Troll