just gorgeous. took my breath away. original thought though familiar. what would u do w this kind of power?
If only for a day
I had a woman’s beauty,
Not wisdom, love or courage
But a spellbinding face
/
Long limbs, thin frame,
And an entitlement to silence,
Which one is only given
By beauty’s tender hands;
/
I wonder what it’s like
To be admired
Not for a timely joke
Or for a kind embrace
/
But simply for one’s presence –
The presence of a candle
In a world lit
By pale glow of plain lamps
/
If only for a day
I knew this power
Which all the elements
Are willing to obey
/
Next day, I know
I’d have to be devoured
By the monstrosity
My mirror’s used to showing
To have beauty is not without consequence. It can be a reminder to some people of their own insecurities and thus they may not want that person around. This happens a lot with women.
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Hi, Katie, I’m Mila, the author of ‘Beautiful’. Sana invited me to visit her blog and reply to the comments about the poem.
One of my favourite Italian movies called Malena, starring Monica Bellucci, deals with the issue of jealousy ‘regular’ women feel towards a woman blessed with the power of beauty. See it if you haven’t yet!
As for the speaker in the poem, I don’t think she is jealous; rather, she is simply curious about how it would feel to have such great power come to you naturally.
Thank you for reading and all the best!
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Thanks for sharing this, Doc. It is very beautiful.
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Beautiful…..I’d share it with you and everyone else I could …..
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Hi, Thelma! With Sana’s permission, let me thank you for your comment! I’m very happy you liked the poem. Feel free to share it with anyone you like.
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I love this poem – with exception taken to a single line where the writer asks what it would be like to be admired…
I believe that this is where self-love and our appreciation of our beauty should rely solely on us. It is always disappointing to rely on another’s recognition or admiration – self-love should allow us to overcome this need.
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Hi, Carol, I’m the author of the poem. Sana suggested I help her reply to the comments about it.
Thank you for your kind words about ‘Beautiful’ and your interesting comment about confidence. I agree with you entirely in that we should be able to see the beauty in ourselves regardless of what is considered beautiful by our environment. No matter what, one should never doubt that they are, in their unique way, beautiful and worthy of love.
However, I don’t think the speaker in the poem is a vain, greedy woman who wants to have this physical beauty to be admired by those around her. The beauty that she is talking about is like a super-power, almost: it’s about more than just appearance, about this speacial aura that true natural beauty bestows on a human being. The speaker wonders what it would be like to have that the same way one could wonder about what it would feel like to be a dolphin, or to have the IQ of Marylin vos Savant, or to fly to Mars… In my opinion, it’s just curiosity, not jealousy, not lack of confidence or self-reliance.
Thank you again for your comment and all the best!
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Thank you for the clarification – I do love your poem.
My comment was more a reminder to myself – I too wonder about things and often they involve other people (what they might think) when realistically in my journey to fully appreciating self-love, I need to remember that it is only my admiration that matters.
I appreciate your posts!
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‘You’ is where it all starts: you are the source of your own strength and beauty, which you can then project on the outside world. We all have in us seeds of strength, and beauty; it’s up to us to care for them and help them grow.
Good luck on your journey!
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I am a loyal follower of 6th
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Thanks for that, Carl! You’re much more of a friend than a follower, though ;).
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This is a great piece and thanks for sharing and being able to hear from the author.
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Thank you for reading! Please, feel free to ask me anything you like about the poem – or anything else whatsoever :).
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That’s very pretty. I’m so negative, though. I’d be afraid of being really good looking because it might make people want to stalk me. No one’s going to stalk a simple duck.
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silly duck. have u met a mallard?
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