Some Things I Find Beautiful

I think there are a lot of ugly things in this world. There are deaths, battles, fears, lies. They gather around us, sink into the air, spill over our feet. We are fallen.
But I also think that we are surrounded by beauty. I think that it can be found anywhere if we know how to look. I think we can draw it out from the darkness and surround ourselves in it, become lost in those hidden moments. So here are some things I find beautiful:

1. Words. There is beauty in the combination of words, in their patterns and expression and meaning. Words are language, they are how we communicate. We communicate to learn information, to inspire, to create relationships. And having a relationship, building a connection with someone, is at the very core of what it is to be human.

2. Trees. I use them a lot in my writing because they are such a symbol of strength, of growth. We become so desensitized to them, but when you actually stop and just look at one, it's incredibly complex. The way they unfold and expand outward, how there are so many sections and crossings. So many individual leaves. How they change throughout the seasons, blending colours and adapting. It's just crazy.

3. Children. They have such amazing creativity and imagination. They are not held back by logic, by responsibility, by social norms. I feel like we lose something as we grow up, some part of us that believes the floor is lava and capes can make you fly. There is beauty in that, the freedom.

4. Actions. Our acts can be beautiful, how we respond to and treat other people. Being aware and open-minded, realizing that we are all humans with our own stories and experiences. Beauty is not limited to visual stimuli, it is in the things we do. I am inspired when I see this, when someone smiles back or offers directions or lends me some change if I don't have enough. Beautiful actions make beautiful people.

5. Laughter. I love the laughter that just explodes deep in you, that creates sounds you never thought you could make. I love the ache in your stomach after, the soreness in your cheeks. I love how contagious it is.

6. Rain. Whenever it rains I just want to run outside and dance in it. I want to feel it against my face, let it run down my spine. It's like thousands of diamonds streaming from the sky, feeding the earth. There's just something so magical about it.

Another Little Poem

I twist the ring around my finger,

pull it off then put it on again.

I sit down on the grass

beside you. I tell you about

my day, how I

saw an old friend

bought a new shirt

found a penny on the ground.

The wind comes then and

I swear I can smell your

perfume, the one that smells

like daisies and red candy.

I stop talking and silence folds

around us. I keep playing with

the ring, but when I try to put it

back on it won’t fit.

I feel it then,

a tear running down my cheek

and then more come and

they won’t stop and it’s so

cold and my fingers are

trembling and I can’t get this

damn ring back on.

I close my eyes and

fall back against the grass

right beside you. I tell you about

my day, how I

stayed awake for hours

smelled your perfumes

stared at old pictures of you

until I had them memorized.

And I lie there next to you

and imagine you are

holding my hand.