The Obsession

How much beauty must I consume

until I have been sated

Taut young skin

Lustrous locks

Eyes that pierce deeper

than a bow

Graceful gestures of the hands

covering obscenity

Obsession renewed 

generation by generation

Propagation the endgame

Nature enduring

Vessels for life

Beauty in decay

A rose dried up

in the vase

Afterbloom

Caught in so much wonder

Beauty holds eyes captive

Seizes the mind-

enslaves it

Pupils dilate-

constrict

Memory grasps

relentlessly

Petals land 

silently

Names of Beauty

All the words that speak for beauty
are your names
In dreams you live
In lives you deem fit
you appear
You graced me once
Changed forever
Memory is where I find you
I see your face
I hear your voice
In memory still living
I see your face
I hear your voice
In memory

She Sings in Multitudes

She wakes up singing
a melody so beautiful and perfect
it echoes beyond the walls
You can hear her voice
on Sunday mornings
mingling with the pealing
of the church bells
and you would wonder
if God is calling to you
I have listened to her
so many mornings
and bathed in the beauty
of her voice
Even during the harsh
rains her voice endures
through the steady
rhythm of pattering water
When I see her walking
through town I do not
speak I merely listen
If my eyes were ever
to be caught in her glance
I would die and I could
not stand being denied
such a sound that has
given me life

Do you wish to live in beauty?

Why do you wish to possess beauty?

What good is flesh
Separated from
The soul?

How beautiful must an image be
For me to carry it forever?
Uncommon beauty
Can be more commonplace
Than you know.

Those Who Feast on Flesh

They want you when you are young and beautiful
But will discard you when life has left you wilted
Your beauty is a commodity they wish to possess

To serve their base desires is their only want 
Life is even-handed in it's cruelty 
Even they shall learn this fact

Does beauty even matter?

Departure Point*

I'm sorry you had to find me like this.
Alone in my car by the beach.
I didn't think you'd be the one.
I figured it would be a cop
Leaving a ticket on my windshield or
Some random stranger.

I wanted to see the sun set over the
Ocean one last time. It was gorgeous
The way the light shifted into pastels
In the clouds above the sea. The waves
Were rippling sheets of silver coming in
And out. I breathed the salty air
To the rhythm of the waves. It was then
I felt myself letting go. It made it easier.
Let me say SORRY SORRY SORRY
SORRY SORRY SORRY
To an endless exponential degree.
This wasn't easy. I know I've made
Needless new complications but I
Never questioned the love I was given.
I needed more than this life could give.
I needed more than I could give.
I can now watch the waves from
A new and distant shore.

*Dedicated to D.S. and to L. who found him.

beauty in your eyes
dare I kiss your blooming lips
shudder together

Recognition

A lifetime of fading beauty
I still recognize you
Despite what life has done
I could never forget
The brilliance in your eyes

Her Name Is Beauty

There is beauty that haunts me,
eludes me

but runs ragged through my thoughts
and I am helpless

as it runs over me.

I pull water from the well of delusion
and drink and bathe from it.

I tell myself
this is how it is,

this is how it must be.
I know, I realize

this is a choice
and these choices

can only last
for as long as we wish

them to be.

living dust

beauty can't last forever
don't deny time it's victory

into the arms of death
into the passing 
of everything

we are living dust

Don't blame beauty for anything.
What did Beauty ever do to you?
Did Beauty lead you on?
Your expectations are your own.
Beauty isn't biased, it just is.

What will you do with your fleeting beauty?

There is no beauty in cleverness 
that does not enthrall

There is beauty in this world and I must run to it.

Even her beauty

was not enough

to save

her.