Vision of Eternity - For Mary Helen

I found the most expensive frames

Of rosewood, ebony, and gold,

With all the famous makers' names

Inscribed, remembrances to hold.

And then one day a simple base

Among the ornate and refined

I bought to hold the treasured face

That smiled so gently on mankind.

A soul transcending boundaries

Whose loveliness the heart retains

Cannot be held by frame or frieze

Nor even in our sacred fanes

Emplaced, surpassing sky and sea,

A vision of eternity.