Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Warts & All


image borrowed from southernmetals.com 


Warts and All

“There is a road from the eye to the heart
that does not go through the intellect.”
--Gilbert Keith Chesterton.

Behold the beauty
of things dead & discarded;
find your reflection.

Harmony or discord, gleaming gems or gruesome garbage, three coats
of hand-rubbed wax over four coats of metallic paint on a fender or the
rust pocks & pits on it decades later sitting in a forgotten corner of a
farmer’s field, a weather vane of an iron rooster bent in half from a bolt
of lightning, a pious pile of salvaged vehicle brakes, toothless gears,
and bent hub caps, a dead John Deere with flat tires covered mostly
with blackberry vines, a building after a fire, a castle keep or rampart
centuries after deterioration, shattered swords amidst antique weaponry,
acres of old planes, military & conventional, with wires & straps waving
in the breeze, row after row of mothballed ships of past wars, huge 
wrecking yards where cars are stacked up like grotesque waffles, ivy-
choked moss-encrusted wrought iron gates hanging askance on broken
hinges, headless statues with missing wings & appendages, abandoned
houses, factories, & insane asylums still standing--filled with equal parts
pain & joy, discarded dreams, fat spiders & useless bedsprings, 100-year
old newspapers found as insulation in pioneer cabins, the sheen on
elk ribcages picked clean by predators, insects, & weather, log jams of
smashed trees clogging fast-flowing streams, lichen & fungal mushrooms
sprouting from trunks & branches, seedlings growing out of the rotted
hearts of dead-black stumps, perfect geometry created accidentally  
on sidewalks & curbs, in train yards, & across rooftops, busted padlocks,
rings of unclaimed keys, patina that has eaten through solid steel doors,
a flag preserved & displayed despite its tattered edges & cannonball
holes, ship wrecks left on remote beaches, greasy wooden bins of
old car doors & hoods, the smiling chrome teeth in old grills & bumpers,
or powerful pallets of detached engine blocks, gutted transmissions, or
huge burlap sacks of metal washers.

Beauty can reside
in hellish haze, refuse or
patina’s embrace.


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over on dVerse Poets Poetics

Would you like to hear the author read this Haibun to you?

25 comments:

Mary said...

Yes, beauty resides in each of these! It is the eye of the one who looks who sees this beauty....just as it is. It is the kind of beauty we so often overlook, but it is there, yes with 'warts and all.'

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I especially love "patina's embrace"!

brudberg said...

The fact that there is purpose and history in the decay... the patina and rust is what gives the history a narrative, a past.. love the list that somehow can look like garbage but that is so much more. Yes we need more rust...

Claudia said...

i love patina and all kind of vintage things... that john deere with the flat tires...ha... would love to paint that

mrs mediocrity said...

there is always beauty to be found, if only you know where to look.
and clearly, you do. :)

Peggy said...

Oh yes, it is all in how one looks at things and who is looking!

Anonymous said...

so much just depends on how you look at it. Some wonderful rhythms to your lines

Grace said...

This is a lovely haibun Glenn ~ I admire the many examples of where you can find beauty even in the ordinary street, old newspapers, huge burlap sacks of metal washers ~ I hope we never lose that poetic eye of what is beautiful ~

Anonymous said...

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
~Confucius


You have stuck the power of truth in beauty. You sir, have done justice to this beautiful poem.


Unknown said...

the beauty of this poem, captures the beauty that is in everything we don't always see...

Victoria said...

I love the beauty of patina as, for me, it seems to reflect a bit of that beauty of aging. I have a photo of an old rusted out pick up truck about which I'm waiting for a poem to happen--and darned if you didn't write it for me.

Truedessa said...

Sometimes it takes an eye of observation to see the hidden beauty in things. You have captured so much. My aunt used to have one of those weather vanes shaped like a rooster on her barn. I've seen people create some very artistic pieces from what is considered junk to some.

ayala said...

Beauty is everywhere...and you are one that knows it.

Anonymous said...

I have lots of patina Glenn -

It's nice to think it might be beautiful in someone's eyes.

I like this, and it reminded me that at our cabin they had a 1940's tractor. I was sad when we traded it in for something new with less character.

Anonymous said...

old rusty junk - my husband can find the beauty in it all - patinas embrace is lovely, Glenn.

Unknown said...

Oh the things we shy away from because of some rust or dents or decay. I think of elderly folk and their rust and how many times, we also overlook that beauty. Excellent poem and haibun. That list of beauty astounds.

lynn__ said...

Great haibun...especially aloud, Glenn. There's beauty everywhere for those who can appreciate it...I'm still working on seeing beauty in fat spiders :)

Katie Mia Frederick said...

i suppose the beauty of all things material AND FLESH AND BLOOD IS they fade away.. and the beauty that is left is an inner joy that no flesh or STUFF CAN tale alone.. telling it is.. with inner light.. that never fades with age.. or discarded stuff.. that is never felt..:)

Wolfsrosebud said...

i liked the blackberry vines on that old tractor... if we all could just slow down a bit

kaykuala said...

What a beautiful visual of neglect and abandoned relics by the countryside. You've made it so vivid of a typical countryside scene. Great lines Glenn!

Hank

Marina Sofia said...

I agree - there is such beauty in rust and fallow, also sadness. There are whole sites dedicated to abandoned buildings, ruins and the like. Photos of Detroit and abandoned industrial areas. I think tractors and the like are infintely more beautiful in fields though. They get taken over by vegetation, as if nature is having the last laugh...

Abhra said...

Whenever I read your poetry, I find so much rich details - that makes me visualize every bit of it - the stain of time - the decay - this wasn't any exception either. I totally loved your recitation.

Gabriella said...

I too find there is beauty in rust and the patina of time. Rusty objects can inspire wonderful photos and sketches. I also like how antique stores make new use of these rusty objects.

Sabio Lantz said...

Indeed your list proves your point beyond doubt!
Nicely done

Blogger said...

Did you know that that you can make money by locking premium pages of your blog or website?
Simply open an account with AdscendMedia and implement their content locking tool.