Beauty is

Posted on by Allison Grayhurst

 

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Beauty is

 

True beauty is an experience of  awe, it is a momentary recognition where the interconnectedness of everything becomes clear as it sits on the edge of chaos, of knowing the chaos and the precarious tilt towards it, inside of it, but also knowing that chaos for what it is – an illusion.

 

It is a transient intimacy with truth, when the layers of life are exposed, revealed in a completed majesty. It is a fleeting experience, a halt in existence that our temporal selves cannot maintain. It arrives unexpectedly, when looking at the face of a child, an old person’s hands, an animal’s tenderness to another outside of its kind. Or when knowing the starlight patterns, forest root fungal patterns, brain electrical patterns are one in the same patterns, that mountain ridges and heartbeat ridges join in identical rhythms, that what is in the forest is in the branch is in the leaf, and that singing is simply opening up, letting in, then letting out.

 

Beauty is being in love. It catches our breath, brings peace, uncovering perfect symmetry before dissipating with a thinning intensity. It shields the heart in hope, it is a glimpse of God, is bigger than dying, than death, though denies nothing. It shocks us with a sense of synchronicity, and for a moment, seeing it, we return to the source, restored.

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Copyright © 2017 by Allison Grayhurst

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First published in “Peacock Journal” October 2016

Allison Grayhurst – Four Poems

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You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

https://allisongrayhurst.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/beauty-is.m4a?_=1

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3 responses to “Beauty is”

  2. R.H. (Rusty) Foerger – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – As I enter the third third of life, I am becoming aware of the role of elders today “to enlarge spiritual vision, being devoted to prayer, living in the face of death, as a living curriculum of the Christian life” (Dr. James M. Houston). I am a life long and life wide learner who seeks to: *decipher the enigma of our worth *rescue from the agony of prayerlessness *integrate spiritual friendship.
    R.H. (Rusty) Foerger says:

    Reblogged this on Curriculum of the Spiritual Life and commented:
    “Beauty Is” to be posted February 3.

    Reply
  3. Dr. J – Blessed to explore varied careers: Wordsmith and pharmacist And teacher of God’s Word These three simple lines from a poem composed in 1993 reveal three areas of interest or focal points which have become most apparent at this stage of my life. I seem to have a lot to say, and my attempts at blogging are indications of my need to follow Longfellow’s advice: “Look into thine heart and write.” Similarly I often quote St. Augustine who said, “To contemplate the truth and to share the fruit of that contemplation.” And so Dr. J blogs on and on. . . I continue to learned that "to express the soul in words is an art." Day by day, I am learning as I write.
    Dr. J says:

    Thanks for posting this exquisite poem. It brought to mind “Barter” by Sara Teasdale, a lovely poem I committed to memory as a junior in high school and still know by heart almost 60 years later:

    Barter
    Life has loveliness to sell,
    All beautiful and splendid things,
    Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
    Soaring fire that sways and sings,
    And children’s faces looking up
    Holding wonder like a cup.
    Life has loveliness to sell,
    Music like a curve of gold,
    Scent of pine trees in the rain,
    Eyes that love you, arms that hold,
    And for your spirit’s still delight,
    Holy thoughts that star the night.
    Spend all you have for loveliness,
    Buy it and never count the cost;
    For one white singing hour of peace
    Count many a year of strife well lost,
    And for a breath of ecstasy
    Give all you have been, or could be.

    Sara Teasdale

    Reply

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