My Heart is the Canvas

My Heart is the Canvas

I will always be able to paint the picture even if my memory fades.

You were the Da Vinci painting on the canvas of my heart your very own Mona Lisa – and to see you again, my soul waits.

You wouldn’t want me to cry, tears only would blemish this beautiful creation.

Through careful observation, I realized it was a picture filled with memories.

Memories of my uncle, such a dear friend.

Someone who was so proud of me, from beginning to end.

I will never forget him saying “Brit, I look at your picture every day on the wall.”

Who would’ve thought it was that same third grade picture of me with big teeth,

twists in my hair and glasses big enough to look into anyone’s soul.  

I should have got you a new picture – the one with a new smile and this confidence that holds stories untold.  

There’s nothing like a memory, those that you keep in your heart.

From talking about metal recycling to remembering you picking me up in your arms, when I was only “knee high to a grasshopper”

You loved me then, you love me still.

So this picture I paint of you,

I know in the painting there is a cradle and a grave.

Because as living humans, that scene is in everyone’s art gallery.

Even though, you are on the grave part…

The beautiful memories in between that shape your painting only,

Is what I will forever keep in my heart. 

Dedicated to: Shedrick Willie Knox, Jr. 1972-2015