I found graffiti pleasing
On my worst of days
Painted prejudice against order and orders
Alive on a ton of bricks.

One such image stuck with me
A giraffe, long necked and smiling
Happier than me, but
Not tragically alive so.

I loved him and I
Thought I would get him tattooed.
Unlikely, the permanent terrifies me.
And doing so would insult that lovely little message.

His smile meant,
Don't be afraid of sadness,
For like happiness, it goes,
You are a ship facing waves of both,

There were stormy seas ahead.

I smile, because, it took something so permanent
Something so fixed
As a smile on a wall
To let me know that nothing stays the same.