| I believed sometimes so much in beauty
That I could not keep it off
(It was like some fog always rolling in)
And could not keep my feet, my balance, or anything attuned...
I sometimes could admit that beauty must be unfair
To men and women with other attractive attributes
But I didn't cry too much for all the shallow pretties
Who could only keep their beauty if they died soon.
I blush that this was only me thinking, though,
It was never spoken much aloud!
I mean nothing that might be too pejorative about it
But it never seems to occur to the general population
That anything is wrong, and I must admit that
It hasn't held much sway over me, either—
But now that I am struck down
And feeble, weary, and worn,
It occurs to me from minute to minute
That I was foolish, absurd, and unkind
In modes of cruel address
And it remains unclear to me
Right through today
How I could ever undo, untangle, or repair
Such distress I made or that I felt inside! |
Wonderfully sensitive piece, Ron.
ReplyDeleteI think we (humans) are pre-programmed to react to what we perceive as visual beauty. It's part of our evolutionary duty to work out what you've worked out there.
Non-visual beauty is probably an acquired taste - like ...er...olives, mushrooms,... anchovies (haven't acquired that one yet!) ;-)
True, but we ignore or suppress many other bits of that pre-programming, thus keeping us from being criminals, cannibals, rapists, murderers, and motherfuckers. There are attempts that society makes to reprogram us and there are the efforts that we as individuals make to reprogram ourselves. If humans were "natural", we wouldn't have to think about anything. Hey, I know some people like that, but I can't say I like them!
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