The Rough Beauty

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Those who put down what is false, no matter how dear, are my heroes.

THE ROUGH BEAUTY

We think what’s familiar is normal,

but whether you’re born under a rock

or on a cliff six inches from heaven,

nothing matters but the effort to shed

the mud or glare of whatever covers you,

so that nothing is between you and life.

Though everything wants to film you

over: dirt, pain, regret, memory, or the

shine of dream and expectation. We

all land the same inch from eternity,

rubbing it like a pebble turned gem

between our fingers.

I think of all this while putting a

band-aid on your thumb that blistered

from gardening a stubborn patch of

earth. I think of this while you touch

the soreness in my heart when

I work too hard at living.

I am uplifted by anyone who dares

to stand naked before the world, to

say, “For all the ways I’ve tried to

change, this is the rough beauty

of what I’ve given to arrive as me.”

A Question to Walk With: In conversation with a friend or loved one, discuss one thing you’ve given to arrive more fully in your life as you truly are.