The Pretty One (Poem with Poet's Comment)

The Pretty One
by Tim Kavi

smiling
her heart
beamed
from the realm
of souls

she knew
hard times
many have
but the road
she journeyed on
was more than
narrow

it was a precipice
where she had
been dangling
hanging on
for dear life

her happiest
moments were
always
moments away
from strife

but her love
knew no limits
and her songs
were always
full of meaning

when she sang
people listened
when she kissed
it was with her
whole heart

her flowers
pets and kids
were around her

but
life was momentary
to be redeemed
minute by minute

and lucky I was
to have known her love
even for a second

for in her
suffering
she gave to everyone
and was the most
kind

woman

yes she was
the prettiest
one

the greatest
benefactor
bodhisattva
to the lost
and suffering

Yes
she was
the pretty one.

Poet's comment: Yes this poem is an amalgam; however, it is mostly about a specific woman I once dated while I was a grad student in college. She was also a grad student, but in music. She had been classically trained in Europe, and was an outstanding musician. She was wonderful. Before I met her, she had a hard life. She had tried to commit suicide by jumping off a freeway overpass. She lived through that and had to undergo a number of surgeries after that in the early 1980s. During the surgeries she required blood transfusions. It was just during the discovery of AIDS. She acquired AIDS through one of the transfusions. It was truly tragic. Later the illness took her life.--T.K.