- Behind the Veil -

By John Herlihy

There is more than simple beauty

That lies hidden behind the veil.

There is more than religious duty

Buried deep within life’s travail.

Who could have ever known

How her inner world would be,

As she became a woman fully grown,

Behind a veil where no one could see.

True there are preserved traditions

To be nurtured as a garnish.

But who could imagine the conditions

That may end up the soul to tarnish.

All we are lies embedded within the face;

We are what we are from what we do.

There in the lines, all the emotions, like lace,

Hidden there as shadows no one ever knew.

She wore the veil as a kind of protection,

As if not seeing stops the intrusion of eyes.

But there is another kind of detection,

That could still end up as compromise.

Thru the veil her modesty will prevail,

Stirring secret desire nobody knows.

The imagination can lift up the veil,

In so doing, a vulnerable soul to expose.

In the end, the eyes give her away,

Her soul fully exposed to view.

The one thing she should never betray,

A soul more precious than anyone knew.

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(c) John Herlihy January 2019