Brittle Beauty

G.K.Chesterton most famously said Angels fly because they take themselves lightly

Let's ignore that and celebrate the virtue of self-consciousness along the lines of Matsuo Basho the founding-father, so to speak, of Haiku. He once recalled something he wrote ten years earlier and mentioned to his pupil, how the last line should have been re-written.

A poem is never really completed, only abandoned - Paul Valery via AKR

Here is something abandoned in 2004, 2006 and 2007 and further scissored down further this morning

Brittle Beauty

A moment’s beauty is always there
For every creature that was around
It’s only those who’ve some to spare
Who give hope of life unbound.

But then there are morals, then there is shame
And worse: ‘each one has an innate talent’
God! Whoever said ‘twas a fair game?
It’s just us cynics who are gallant

The rest go armed with handkerchieves
That play purdah to the eager eyes
Evolution indeed from the days of fig leaves
But then, Adam hadn’t a choice

So here I am, rewriting drafts, chiseling is my game
Scratching out the not so gold.
If you still don’t like it I can always blame
The eyes that do behold.


This is why you should never show work in progress - Norther Winslow, Big Fish