To a smile

Have you ever known a smile to catch fire?
to smolder in the kindling of a man’s heart
to provoke daring tongues of flame
and by puffs of darkling smoke
betray the heat that gathers
of a moment’s quiet admiration?

I should call your mouth an oyster
for all the pearls it reveals;
and your beaming face: some far-off star,
that sailors, in their wandering night
might set sail for
and guide their journey home.

And your smile is so much like the dawn
that on the horizon of your lovely face
summons all the bright glories of day.