PAUL RICHMOND

 

 

Beauty And Ugly

 

Beauty sat next to me at the bar

Turned and said

You are ugly

I said you need to get your eyes checked

Maybe it’s too dark in here

For you to really see

 

Beauty said I know ugly when I see it

I said you are only seeing the packaging

Which airline baggage handlers have abused

Left in the freezing rain

Letting the dogs ripe me apart

Like a new chewy toy

 

Beauty said I am talking about what’s inside

What is inside shines on the outside

All I see is darkness along with a skunk smell

Nothing pleasing

You’re as romantic as dead flowers

You’re as natural as a shopping mall

When you are dramatic the audience is asleep

 

I asked beauty how it knows it is beautiful

Beauty said look how nervous

Everyone is around me wanting my attention

How they all compliment me

Smiling hoping I will smile back

They can’t take their eyes off me

 

Beauty put on their shades

To look at me and said

You make my eyes hurt

No one wants to even look at you

Can’t you hear them yelling at you

To go away

No one wants to be around ugly

 

The bartender wanted to know

Did we each want another drink

I bought Beauty a drink and asked

If it is all going so well for you

What are you doing in here sitting next to me

 

Beauty’s laugh was soaked in tears

Everyone wants a piece of me

I never get time alone

No one really cares what I think or feel

They are too overwhelmed with my beauty

Blinded by wanting possession

 

With each drink Beauty was more confessional

Beauty talked of their biggest fear

That they will be seen as ugly one day

Despite all their efforts to stay beautiful

Fighting the enemy time

Was a losing battle

 

As we sat and drank

I notice our reflections in the mirror

I don’t’ know if it was the effects of the alcohol

I have noticed one’s standards seem to drop

As it gets closer to closing time and the last call

Those who were seen as maybe a last choice

Are suddenly the love of your life

 

Suddenly someone was asking me

Would I like a last drink

I turned to find Desperate

Telling me I was the one

They had always been looking for

They asked me to go home with them

I left with desperate

Leaving Beauty sitting alone at the bar

Looking at their reflection

 

My Favorite Revolutionary

 

When asked

Who’s my favorite revolutionary

I lost count

Names fade

 

Their words

Hearing them speak

The way they sing

Dance

Paint

Walk in the streets

I recognize them

These Revolutionaries

Are introduced to me

By friends

By strangers

Discovering their work

In my search for the truth

 

Who are they

The spark needed

To start a fire

 

Standing next to the fire

I felt changed

I was thinking feeling differently

I wasn’t the same afterwards

Sometimes it was a slow process

Having the window open slightly

You can feel the breeze

Once it is opened fully

You can climb out

Into the unknown

 

These revolutionaries

 Were the ones

I was told not to listen to

I was told to accept

Not to question

 

Their voices rang true

The light was turned on

In the dark room

Of confusion

And lies

 

Learning of their courage

Their willingness to dedicate their lives

Many lost their lives

For what they believed

 

They weren’t couch revolutionaries

Criticizing

Giving advice

While sitting on the sidelines

 

Revolutionaries are active players

In the game

 

Creating equality

Making daily lives

Of everyone better

 

When asked

Who’s my favorite revolutionary

I realize

It’s never been just one person

It’s a long list of people

Who chose courage

Over comfort

Taught me

To do the same

My favorite revolutionaries

Are those

Who refused to stay silent

Who dared to step forward

Pushed the world

One inch closer

To justice

 

I am looking at one in the mirror

 

My favorite revolutionary

I haven’t met yet

I am

Listening

For their voices

 

Giving breath to that spark

For the next fire

 

PAUL RICHMOND