What It Means To Be Beautiful
There is a planet with a moon
inside my water bottle. A breeze
makes small faces, expressions
of surprising love, I thank you.
Thank you for your nightly visits,
your gentle birdsong. Borrowed light alone
can’t make out in this house. This clutter—
the catch-all for my life. I feel
your glare of disapproval.
Come closer. The night
in your eye is a shade colder. Why
does everything have to be beautiful?
I don’t trust it. Let’s go
ruin something.
*
Ilari Pass holds a BA in English from Guilford College of Greensboro, NC, and an MA in English, with a concentration in literature, from Gardner-Webb University of Boiling Springs, NC. She currently is poetry consultant for Free State Review, and serves as a Representative Reader for the African American culture for North Carolina Writers’ Network. You can find her Greatest Hits in The American Journal of Poetry, Free State Review, Sledgehammer Lit, Paterson Literary Review, and others.
Oh my this is good.
This is a poem to be savored and read multiple times. I enjoyed the vibrant imagery and flow. Stunning piece, Ilari!
Stunning piece, Ilari. This is the kind of poem that needs to be savored and read multiple times. I appreciate the vibrant imagery and flow to this piece.