Crying Out

Here I lay,

beneath the beating Sun 

aglow. Many a weary heart 

has been made

here; a confluence 

of sweat and tears.

Did you know:

you do not have to do anything

to deserve. Love

is given freely—

in every fluid moment, the universe

is born.

But I do not think one ever truly knows,

until their loved one’s face is contorted

in a pain you can do nothing about. 

Their every feature

becoming your own 

heart’s immeasurable joy and

unimaginable sorrow.

No, I do not think we know.

We forget, with too much ease,

the drop of dew in the morning,

the moment the sun fades 

beyond the mountaintop, the ocean—

All of this is fleeting. 

So what of beauty?

What of Her endless contours?

The way the river shapes 

Her mouth and eyes.

Yes, she is smiling now.

And love is all around,

In a twisted lip and a slipped hand,

A misspoken word 

A saddened smile.

Because, you know:

all of this is 

fleeting,

all of this is Beauty.