Arlene Corwin Poetry

   I Like Beauty

(or beauty for its own sake)

Is it beauty or a vanity?
To paint the bare face everyday
Almost on wakening.
It feels self-serving in a way,
Yet right and satisfying.
Color, colors, shaping forms,
Mild creations, self-corrections
With no thought of operations.

Would one die without it?
Not a bit!
Months have gone,
The physiognomy anonymous,
No thought to how it looks.
Then one awakes one day
Takes out the brushes, pencils, gloss
Stencils in a brow too thin,
Highlighting skin.
It’s just plain fun – and trains one.

One knows or feels how Rembrandt felt
When melting shadows into forms
For sheer effect,
The end result:
The kind of beauty, drama, potency
To give a clout not caught
Apart from that.
An act of mastery.

So, to proclaim without an ego being blamed:
It’s beauty that one aims at –
Neither praise nor adoration.
Like the icing on the cake,
Beauty’s pleasure for the sake
Of living, loving exploration.

I Like Beauty 4.21.2021 Circling Round Vanities II; Arlene Nover Corwin