Love from a Ruffled Face
“Who gave you those?”
My son’s chubby hands
grasped a line of paper dolls.
Laughter replaced tears.
“The lady with the ruffled face.”
Her squinted eyes met mine,
toothless smile with deep wrinkles.
Kindness meets innocence,
wisdom savors acceptance.
He didn’t yet know
hardness and sorrows.
He didn’t care about her past.
He only saw
An inviting smile on a ruffled face
and felt
a touchless embrace.
From her
he knew no fear.
From him
she felt no rejection.
Young and old—
no judgment.
Forever he would
remember
love from the lady with
the ruffled face