A Smile of Water

On liquid mirror, silent and soft,
a sweet shadow, a ray appears light.
No hand trace, but a memory aloft,
a painted smile that the wave takes sight.
Every ripple, a stroke that is blended,
a gentle feeling, pure and without end.
Its glow upon the clear banks extended,
a silent echo the soul must defend.
Then the wave passes, and the veil disperses,
but in every drop an imprint remains.
The echo of that smile that never reverses,
in my heart, a sovereign emotion sustains.
It is no longer there, the form has been lost,
but in the silence an echo still whispers.
Thus joy, though vanished, whatever the cost,
in the heart dances and hope forever inspires.