The Silent Echo of the Smile

In silver patina and time, where
a fragment of an age rests and lives,
is the etched shadow, the face that moves,
and a light curve that never lacks
of faded emotion, that no longer stirs
the lips to whisper in joyful hours.

It breathes no breath, nor does sound crack
the thin glass holding the moment fast.
Yet, in divine immobility,
a wave propagates and cannot be passed,
a silent echo that persists
to vibrate, though mute, and cannot be cast aside.

It is the resonance of a living instant,
a suspended joy, a hidden harmony,
that the flash caught, rapid and furtive,
and now, eternal, memory has tattooed.
It is not just a fleeting reflection,
but a soul within that enchanted image.

Thus, while the years pale the color,
and the edge curves, tired, or crumbles,
that gentle reverberation, which senses perceive,
from every new gaze still reveals itself.
A mute wave, from which hearts draw their sustenance,
and its calm joy, forever, is sealed away.