“For beautiful to happen the beautiful has got to be seen.”
Adam Gwon, “Beautiful” from Ordinary Days
I watch the ripples in the sand,
let the grains flow from my hand,
see them slide into a shimmering sea
to wash ashore on another land.
I look at the blades of grass
through them robin hops to pass
then calls to me from a nearby branch–
the sky above, a clear blue glass.
The beauty that has to be seen,
blue of sea and sky, and grass so green,
the beauty of the ordinary, looked at again–
remembered sights–or what might have been.
Gina at dVerse has asked us to write a poem about ordinary things. I thought back to something I wrote a while ago about ripples in sand and the scientific discoveries of Hertha Marks Ayrton, which gave me the opening. But “ordinary things” made me think of the musical Ordinary Days. My younger daughter was in it when she was a senior in college, and I got to hear her sing, “I’ll Be Here”–and tried not to sob and embarrass her. The quotation comes from the last song in the show.
I love this
Thank you, Beth!
Aww this is such a lovely and lyrical look at the little details of the world that many of us probably do not think twice about. You’ve definitely captured the extraordinary in the ordinary 🙂
Thank you for the lovely comment, Jade!
A wonderful reminder that we live on the edge of inspiration! Well done!
Thank you very much, Dwight!
Oh, just splendid Merril, serene and beautiful! Oh the magic or tragedy we can concoct from “what might have been”. I really liked this… 🙂
Thank you so much, Rob. I think I often like to leave poems open.
Nature is so wonderful… love the way you grow beauty from the smallest details
Thank you, Björn. That is such a lovely way to express it–growing beauty from the smallest details.
it was so lovely to read that your daughter was in a play and you got to hear her sing, a moment that I am sure is engraved in your heart forever. that would surely have been a moment of ordinary magic too! love your poem of the fine things in life you have picked to show the magic they lend to our lives. the grains of sand, the shimmering sea, the sky like glass, each detail you give loving attention, that was magical to me, And the quote fits the prompt beautifully, beautiful has to be seen, opening our hearts and our eyes to the beauty around us, acknowledging it’s presence, your poem is exactly that. thank you for participating Merril!!
Thank you very much for your lovely comment, Gina!
Simple Beauty
Beyond A Greatest
Painting Sunset Wisdoms
to Behold And
Feel…
True..
Not
A Given..
For Magic
Of Beauty Is
Manufactured Within.. Magic
Muscles Poetry/Art.. Develops More..:)
Thank you, Katie!
SMiLiNG
Welcomes..:)
Nice last line combining remembered sights with what might have been.
Thank you, Frank!
I like how each stanza opens onto greater things.
Thank you, Ken. That’s a good observation. I hadn’t thought of it quite that way, but you’re right.
There’s ultimate beauty in nature’s tapestry. Love this.
Thanks so much, Vivian!
😊
What beautiful rhythm this one had.
Almost like a song.
Thanks so much, Dale!
I see the beautiful in the verses and in the quotation
Thank you very much, Derrick.