Poet’s Page ~ October 2009

Spending a large part of my life in the midwest has given me a love for “season change” and all that it means in terms of weather and scenery. One of the things I love about where we live now, in the Sierra foothills, is that we do have changes with each season, including a certain amount of leaf color in the fall. October is when our leaf color is at its peak. Even with so much green of tall pines, we have beautiful maples that light up the green with red and gold and brown.

I often hear people speak of autumn as their favorite season because of its beauty. Beauty is an interesting word, an interesting concept, for truly, beauty resides in the eye of the beholder and is defined by what each beholder sees as “beautiful.” I have tried to sort out my thoughts about what “beauty” means to me in the following poem.

Beauty

Where does beauty live?

Beauty lives on the mountain
where fir trees touch the sky
like hands lifted in prayer.

Beauty lives in the valley
where generous fields
offer gifts of fruit and grain.

Beauty lives in the ocean
where sun sparkles and waves
adorn the rocks with foam.

Beauty lives on the desert
where sand and heat make water
seem a miracle.

Beauty lives in a child
whose laughter sounds like bells
celebrating the morning.

Beauty lives in an aged one
whose eyes hold the wisdom
of a life well lived.

Where does beauty live?

Beauty lives in the eye of the beholder…
above us, below us, around us!

Beauty lives in the seeing
of what is true and lasting,
of what is within us.

Beauty lives.

jbm