Grace

He saw a new face,

Sharing, teaching,

A scarf covering

One side of her face,

Her wisps of curly hair,

Her dark black eyes,

Mere glimpses.  She

Was beauty, she was grace.

Till one day, thunder

Roared, the wind howled,

Sheets of incessant rain.

Her scarf blew away,

No match for the gale. And

She turned, he flinched,

Her grace unmasked. He

Tried not to look away.

His face burnt with shame.

Horror. Anger. The scars

From a distant past. Did they

Make her lesser than whole?

But she smiled, she laughed, 

As the rain caressed her face,

Washing away the pain, baring

Her real grace, her unbeaten soul.