Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Beauty Rises


image by glenn buttkus


Beauty Rises

“The future belongs to those who believe in the
beauty of their dreams.”--Eleanor Roosevelt.

Beauty is transcendent, 
                illusionary,
                eternal,
                sadness,
                triumphant,
                momentary, &
                ecstasy.         It can be body art, garish, eclectic
                                tattoos that use flesh as a canvas,
                           a fatal fad, a moment’s folly or love
                      in the rapture of bloom, that may lose
                  its luster as fashion becomes altered
              by cascading, tumultuous decades.

Those people who are born gorgeous as 
             models. stared at by all, once they
                  override their conceits, can come to
                        lament their beauty, often wishing to
                                 merely be an anonymous participant
                                        in the crowded landscape, rather
                                        than something akin to alabaster
                                        on a bronze pedestal;

But it is Nature, in all its guises, whether in a forested glen
swarming with golden & black Monarchs, or atop verdant
foothills at the feet of a fire mountain in early morning, 
while wild strawberry light slides across ermine glaciers,
with Mandarin orange clouds hanging like a general’s 
epaulets on the shoulders of the peak, or at a black beach
during a tropical sunset while the sea’s white caps frost the
smooth tops of infinite rows of waves & frenzied gulls pick
at the stringy pink flesh within yellow crab shells--where we
discover God’s living palette--

and finally, true beauty 
becomes the earnest appreciation
of aging, decay, and oxidation;
midst rotting wood, peeling paint
& rusting metal--where we 
re-evaluate a mature lover’s body,
though no longer hard-muscled,
but still the wondrous encasement
of the loving glow from their eyes,
the tenderness of their touch,
and the undying loyalty, sacrifice,
accommodation & reciprocity that
inhabits every fiber of their essence.

Beauty emerges from
every corner of our life.
resplendent to each. 


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub



                                 

11 comments:

De Jackson said...

Those nature descriptions are just STUNNING, Glenn. You do description so well.

brudberg said...

I do love how you capture all sense of beauty, but most of all to see it decay... so very much something we learn to do.

tonispencer said...

Great poem. Glad to have you back. The descriptions of beauty are stunning.

said...

Oh wow, I love these sections especially:

"eclectic
tattoos that use flesh as a canvas"

"true beauty
becomes the earnest appreciation
of aging, decay, and oxidation"

"we re-evaluate a mature lover’s body,
though no longer hard-muscled,
but still the wondrous encasement
of the loving glow from their eyes,
the tenderness of their touch,
and the undying loyalty, sacrifice,
accommodation & reciprocity that
inhabits every fiber of their essence"

Excellent piece.

lillianthehomepoet.wordpress.com said...

Oh Glenn. This is absolutely beautiful! I especially loved this:
"while wild strawberry light slides across ermine glaciers,
with Mandarin orange clouds hanging like a general’s
epaulets on the shoulders of the peak,"
Yes -- mature lovers cast beauty within their eyes. This is just wonderful.
I went the humorous route...and did an actual recipe card.
Your's is luscious and mine is silly......ah well.....diversity adds to life, right?
As always, I wonder at your words.

Anonymous said...

A recipe for beauty in all its forms

Mish said...

A masterpiece. You have exquisitely described the contrast between glamour and the genuine beauty of nature and life's cycles. Breathtaking to read....more than once.

Gayle Walters Rose said...

I love your last stanza that talks about these bodies that age but still encase the spirit that comes through our eyes, touch, and expresses our essence. So very sweet, our true beauty.

Kim M. Russell said...

I enjoyed your recipe for beauty, Glenn. I like its shape, starting with the list of what 'Beauty is', and the imagery of 'tattoos that use flesh as a canvas'; 'an anonymous participant / in the crowded landscape'; and 'wild strawberry light slides across ermine glaciers'. Most of all I love the way you describe the beauty of ageing and that wonderful haiku.

Waltermarks said...

I guess beauty is still in the eye of those who want to find it. Your thoughts are very stirring, so many forms beauty take. Even decay is beautiful, like an unfolding rose. Thanks Glenn

Victoria said...

Such an amazing sensory tour you treat us to. It surprises me so often where we find beauty, so often in the macro world as well as the panorama.