Lush autumn roadsides
verdant vines and straggling weeds
stretch greedily toward the sun.
Seeking ants
scurry crumbs to the hoard
harvesters store root and grain against the cold.
Hurry, hurry to and fro;
accumulate, be ready for lack
grasp while you can.
Hunger drives
bearing onward open mouths gulping,
hands reaching, seeking more.
Travel the autumn roads slowly
beauty fills the eye
satisfying need and hunger for a while.
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Photo and poem copyright 2013 Tasha Halpert
There is beauty to be found where least expected:
in dried blossoms clinging to bare bushes,
in the twisted intricacy of a naked tree
against an autumn sky slowly dimming.
Beauty smiles from wrinkled faces remembering
as old eyes gaze at small children and listen to their laughter.
I applaud the homely for its quiet elegance
its small soft voice bespeaking a unique and special loveliness
like a cracked pitcher that belonged to a great-aunt
or a rusted iron fence gleaming in the sunset glow.
These warm my heart and draw my eye.
I cherish beauty that goes unnoticed
amidst the flash and filigree that draws the crowd.
I want to embrace and caress the tattered and torn
that form patterns of valor against the starkness of harsh reality,
precious beauty, quiet, shy, and velvet rich to the stroking hand.
Photo and Poem Copyright Tasha Halpert 2013
Pujakins 