Selections from
CONCEAL, REVEAL, ANNEAL

"Beauty Takes a Holiday"

                    1.
What can beauty do
     if there are no takers,
But only lookers and onlookers,
     hooked on the gaze.

When taken,
     beauty awakens,

As a pocket park in the city
     displays more beauty,
For the gray around it,
     and the cares within.

                    2.
Take beauty on a holiday
     every day but payday.

Pay her, on that day,
     with the bounty of a touch.
And call back the eternal form
     from its vacation in a milder clime.

Then lay your hands down,
     lower your gaze,
          quiet your mind,
Watch beauty recede,
     to the size of a dime.

Slip to where all forms sleep,

Keep watch,

If beauty awakens,
     tell her to sleep,
If you awaken
     remember,
There are no place to go,
     or appointments to keep.

When there is no thinking
     or dreaming,
The form world ceases,
     and formlessness streams in,

no more masters,
     disasters,
misanthropy,
     philanthropy,

only a brush stroke,
     a blush,
          finally,
               a hush.

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