Dear Elise

I look into your eyes and think

My dear, my dear Elise.

Such treasures are behind those orbs

If they could only be released.

Strapped, trapped inside your chair you sit,

Fanned arms like wings, they span.

Wrists strain in crooked painful bend

And end in straightened hindered hands

Yet, you are beautiful as dawn

My sweet, my dear Elise

Those hands can dance with pure delight,

Each time you hear your favorite piece

Faint drool escapes your teeth and lips.

You cannot form a word.

And when you try to speak at all,

A poignant moan is all that’s heard.

But, you know meaning, deep, profound

My bright, my dear Elise.

Your cries of joy ring through our church

To God you are great, though you seem least.

Sometimes your countenance goes blank

As if you cannot see.

The light is gone from in your eyes

Your head bobs down unnaturally

But that is just a passing thought

My joy, my dear Elise

When someone smiles, you grin right back

And bring through gleeful dimples, peace.

I’ll never know if you will know

What all these words imply.

Though bodily your life is woe

Your soul is open sky.

What inspiration you have lent

To typicals like me.

You’ll never see the full extent

Of what you caused to be

Your body is broken, but you are complete

My joy, my bright, my sweet

Elise