Tarnish, Stain

Shining armor rusts
With the softest springtime rain.
Princes' crowns shall tarnish;
Kings' robes stain.
These treasures hold naught
But downfall and gloom
For a lonely princess
in an empty room.

But jesters' remarks are a licentious flame
With lustful tongues too wild to tame,
While servants quiet and gruff do smile
And open their hearts for a short, short while.

In castles broad a dame may search
For love and life and a warm embrace,
Or a friend and a hand to hold;
An endearing glance of a lover's face.
But a lover may she never gain,
If not love for the very minds -
For smiles and words bow to tarnish and stain,
If not backed with love for a soul to find.

For knights and kings
And worldly things
A lust like words of the jester she holds
But crumples faint for a servant's smile
Full of love and life and a heart of gold

Swords show power, and crowns show wealth,
Robes show vanity, words show wit,
But a smile is a vulnerable orifice
That opens to the inside just a little bit,
And exposes the heart, life's true love potion.
A smile is a song, a smile is a motion
That cancels out jesters and princes and kings,
For princesses long for much lovelier things.