When she

When she cries

tears of compassion,

the salt

in those tears

preserves

the world

with kindness.

When she laughs

giggles of happiness,

the light

in her smile,

illuminates

the world

with joy.

She has ears 

that hear 

the sound 

of birds singing 

before dawn 

in the early 

mornings. 

She has feet 

that feel 

the rocks and soil 

of the bare earth 

when she walks 

in the late

afternoons. 

She has a body 

that knows,

and wants 

to be known,

and a heart 

that beats

with love.

Trevor Scott Barton, poems for a brown- eyed girl, 2024