are never in short supply.
Beauty needs
someone to tell itself to.
Beauty needs
someone to think that it is so;
To make the harness less heavy
and the whip less harsh.
Stupid ugly girl me
with nothing better to do than to curl herself around beauty
like a dull brown shell,
believing beyond all experience and reason
that there is something valuable and worth protecting
there, within
her solitary embrace.
_______
of course there is .. (something to protect)
ReplyDeleteThe word 'ugly' is founded and derived from a primeval grunt and later applied from internal personal pain.
ReplyDeleteFrom your beautiful words and wonderful expressions the term 'ugly' is an oxymoron.
Recall the words of 'Desiderata'..."be kind to yourself for you too are a child of the Universe"
I gots to ponder the thought behind this one, FB, but ugly? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful opening couplets. They are so strong, especially using the harness (restraint) and whip (punishment?) ideas...
ReplyDeleteI wonder about how you move away from the couplets in the last stanza. Not a criticism, just a curiosity.
I also like the couplets here--subtle and ringing. The ending is strong and well said, but makes me hurt.
ReplyDeleteBeauty knows it can have anything it wants just by standing there and being, but I often think that's not enough, either, because beauty has a funny way of disappearing when the inside doesn't match the outside. I don't recommend wearing anyone else's harness--it's always a bad fit..though I do think it's better to take the lash sometimes than be the one using it. A good poem in all ways, except for the fact you had to write it.
"The harness and the whip are never in short aupply". Oh I so hear you! There IS something valuable and worth protecting there, that shines brighter than any false and surface glam. And Shay? for the record? YOU are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSome people just reckon beauty differently, Shay. Great piece!
ReplyDeleteThis is biting, beautiful work.
ReplyDeleteI used to think I was ugly; unblemished skin, white teeth, full head of hair, perfect vision. But as the years slouched by I collected more than my fair share of scars, and now I'm feeling much better about myself...
ReplyDeleteWell, there is.
ReplyDeletethis one's painful, Shay! beautifully written, but my heart hurts now.
ReplyDeleted ♥