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The Culprit

beauty
is not marred by subtle reflections
on shattered windows
that reflect light unevenly

or by a child's fingerprints
pressed, you feel, almost delibrately
into the exact spot
where you view yourself,
albeit unclearly
every morning, as if by holy grail

you are disgusted
though there is nothing to disgust
you see the shattered parts
and neglect the whole
as if reflecting what you see
on the broken mirrors of life
gives you comfort

beauty
is not sacrificed
by ill thoughts of self
or by ill thoughts of others about self
it is not overcome by
features of the physical
or environmental discrepancies
that silently are a part
of all us humble mortals

beauty
is everywhere
in everyone and
everything

if seen through distorted perception
it is the way you see yourself
that is shattered
the window is the culprit
not you

Author notes

My prompt was #3 "For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror we can just barely endure, and we admire it so because it calmly disdains to destroy us."

*Quote by Holly Black (author of the novel "Tithe")

In a list

A contest entry

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Comments

1 - 6 of 6

  • Manda Kathryn Greeters member
    June 28

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    Born Gorgeous Reading List ~

    Congratulations on the Silver this won

    Wonderful poem; I really enjoyed this from beginning to end - the flow of beauty and what it is ... just stunning

    ♥
    Stay safe
    ~Manda


  • Rose Angel gold member
    June 25

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    Most worthy of top honors for a trophy...Brilliantly penned and so thought provoking..Valuable wisdom....thank you for sharing this with us.. write!


  • lowercase prelude gold member
    June 24

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    Beautiful work here
    So much to digest in this poem and take away with us
    Very well penned and congrats on the trophy


  • VelvetWings
    May 6

    Edit | Reply
    Hello, and thank you for the contest entry. Your poem is strong and with a lot of feeling stocked into those words. I felt it was a little on the long side, but to remove even one line would make it far too less than what it is--I feel that every word is important to your message. My favourite of all stanzas were the last two--deep truths are within your words.

    Thanks again for the entry and good luck to you in my contest.

    ~Sparrow


  • stella187
    May 6

    Edit | Reply
    Well this is very beautiful.

    You are a poetic genius.

    It deserves to win gold.

    Good luck

    Jenny

    "For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror we can just barely endure, and we admire it so because it calmly disdains to destroy us."

    The prompt is very true of what I have experienced.

1 - 6 of 6