image borrowed from myself
Existere
“Beauty is eternity gazing at itself
in the mirror--but remember you are
eternity and you are the mirror.”
--Kahil Gibran
We all face mirrors incessantly
and accept reflections in glass
and loved one’s perceptions
as evidence of our existence.
We justify what we see, what we hear,
esthetically and artistically, as
the pertinent interplay between soul,
our actual dyad participant, and husk,
that often pitiful package that finds itself
harboring a significant absence
of youthful vigor & glow;
discovering
that deranged imp on our right shoulder
cajoling us toward restoration, reclamation,
emotional mood uplifters as the triads of
doubt, shame, and anger resurface,
dragging fragmented memories of
beauty, popularity, and acceptance
behind them like tin cans on their tails,
as surging squadrons of ego-dystonic thoughts
regarding the facing of plastic surgeon’s scalpels,
traumatic fat-removal surgeries, miracle drinks
as seen on TV at 3 a.m., or those mysterious
black weight loss pills bought in Chinatown
that smell a lot like creosote, plague us.
Come on, worshipping beauty is a practice
as ancient as breath itself, and it propels us
into an anomie that we need to avoid.
Once we can ascertain that we are no longer,
or perhaps have never been beautiful,
it is illogical, imprudent to embark willingly
on the auto-destruction of our common sense;
We need to simply acknowledge the calm passenger
on our left shoulder, who is more than willing
to immerse us in its symposium without sorrow,
where we are lovingly reminded that Age can be,
should be, revered, starting with ourselves;
reminded also that we were wise enough
during the second blooming to nurture
insightful confidence as to who
we actually are,
that both autumn and winter can/will
inhabit the totality of our sphere,
that dreaded withering is
more epidermal than spiritual,
that the gorgeous child within,
still evident in the depth of our eyes,
never ages,
never tires,
never abandons us.
Glenn Buttkus
November 2012
Posted over at dVerse Poets OLN
Would you like to hear the author read this poem to you?
8 comments:
Within be fed, without be rich no more....
ENJOYED READING:
these are some of my fave lines:
We justify what we see, what we hear...
our actual dyad participant, and husk,
that deranged imp on our right shoulder
cajoling us toward restoration, reclamation,
...
behind them like tin cans on their tails...
Come on, worshipping beauty is a practice
as ancient as breath itself...
...or perhaps have never been beautiful,
it is illogical, imprudent to embark willingly
on the auto-destruction of our common sense;
We need to simply acknowledge the calm passenger
on our left shoulder, who is more than willing
to immerse us in its symposium without sorrow,
reminded also that we were wise enough
during the second blooming to nurture
insightful confidence as to who
we actually are...
reminded also that we were wise enough
during the second blooming to nurture
insightful confidence as to who
we actually are,...nice i like that...i think we def mature in this regard as we get older...become less concerned with the superficial...you explore this topic with a bit more elegance than i sir....smiles. some fun along hte way though...nice beard sir...
really like this glenn...a good counterweight to the forever young and beautiful and slim cult of today's society, which sometimes produces weird fruits...good to nurture this child in us and stay young on the inside..lovely pic as well
A fine exploration that peace comes with acceptance over time, and age, though it may rob us of a beauty, grants a certain wisdom and serenity. Well said.
Glenn, I definitely agree with you here. No knives to bring about pseudo beauty. What is IS and should be appreciated. Despite outward appearance, that child lives within and never abandons us. We can still enjoy him/her without going through extreme measures.
What a great picture, Glenn. "borrowed from myself" ... I like. :)
These are my favorites:
"We all face mirrors incessantly
and accept reflections in glass"
"discovering
that deranged imp"
"surging squadrons of ego-dystonic thoughts"
"it is illogical, imprudent to embark willingly on the auto-destruction of our common sense"
"acknowledge the calm passenger"
"immerse us in its symposium without sorrow"
Hi Glenn! Nice post of truth. And you posted your tue to life present pic? It's all true, but the real truth is how you feel inside and thankfully we don't feel beyond fifty, ever. Lol.
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