she succumbs to her own beauty
the way one yields to awesome fate
and carries it like an accidental gem
that she has to learn not to worship

to watch her you'd think it hurt for sure
with no conceited smile for good measure
her true asernal before which suitors wilt
is the stoicism of her serene countenance

she lends credence to roadside philosophies
based on the assertion that beauty and grace
are accidents of biology and heritage
and takes no credit for such accomplishments

a woman is beautiful even when the straits are dire
and days are darkest in the most depraved of places
she weeps silent tears when her children are hungry
and they gorge themselves on her loveliness and sleep

tomorrow being another day she struggles anew
and conquers hard reality with feminine creativity
and no matter how hard ill-fortune lacerates her
her delectable contours and carriage still shine through

she has no false pride though she's a pearl of great value
and is forever the stoic beauty driven by the calmness
of the aesthetic tremours of her bewitching gait
in the shadow of a moon rising on the horizon

woman you're nature's rival in beauty and depth

Comrades and friends
What seems to be
Is not what really is
When I fall into a hole
You’ve dug for me
You are with me in it
When the swell of the tide
Sweeps me away into oblivion
You dare not rejoice
For the same tide
Will hasten your passage
When it’s your time
Those that harm the body
Only scratch the outer shell
Inside where I reside
I remain beautiful and unscathed
And live to fight another day
Propelled by you *****-nilly
To other realms
In other dimensions
Thus accomplish I
What you fear to contemplate
Mine is a feat for all time
While you wonder and speculate
Endlessly ...

Rita
Sullen, sultry but delectable nevertheless
She looked at me like an adjudicator
And my confidence sank way down low
I became a blubbering idiot
Whimpering like an orphaned puppy

                      Theodora
Bereft of height but redeemed somewhat by her face
She looked at me like I was the answer to all her prayers
And my disdain for seekers of things personal shot through the roof
I became this despicably insensitive yuppie living only for music
And her pining heart sent her home early upon a light breeze

                       Maria
clear complexion with the tone of ripe yellow peaches
She walked out of a shower into the sunshine like a subject of art
When her gaze touched my doting eyes I was lost forever
And my obsession with beauty and allure was well and truly fanned
I became a frequent visitor at the altar of romantic slaughter where dreams die

                        Elsie
Dark, with dancing eyes and a bobbing ***** replete with femininity
Elsie tortured me with her hungry look then huffed like she was breathing her last
My infatuation with girls that treated me like a killer of their hearts began here
I desperately wanted to reciprocate her take-me-now urges under the June sky
But alas, these things were never meant to be; she was just a maid and I was on the way up

                        Peggy
Tall and sweet with articulate eyes and a younger sister that spoke for her
She was not one to play hard to get and declared her love like it was a blessing
She made my ego grow in leaps and bounds and had a figure like an artist's model
I was stunned by her loving openness and could have tied the knot if I could
But circumstances, as always, altered cases and we went our separte ways for good

                        Clementine
Succulent like the clementine, her namesake, she aired her feelings out for me to see
She had a bigger sister who treated me like I was what her sister needed in perpetuity
Clementine and I shared a secret that we kept from my besotted cousin
My love for intrigue and convolution henceforth was my driver in matters of the heart
And I grew into this heartless beau who needed to be rescued from his own folly

And today in my armchair under the leafy avocado pear tree I sit and wonder where I lost it

listen and listen well to this story
that to every lover gives glory
'tis everyone's rare narrative
a tacit reminder to everyone
that everything happens to everyone

she was once a true love of his
and gave him reason enough to kiss
for when their searching eyes locked
a sizzling  ripple lashed them both
in a moment of seizure that immobilized them

his eyes  could see only her in her rich allure
he was impaled and enslaved by her lyrical walk
and could only gape and drool while she slew him
with that body, that walk and the utter sweetness
it promised without reservation or coyness

but as life often will have it, the song that her life was
faded into the cold distance and as she ascended into time
his sore heart wailed and he sought her everywhere in vain
till it dawned on him that she had been lovely and elusive to the end
his sacred duty was to fan the memory of one once a true love of his

this story my people, is enacted every day everywhere at all times
and though there's nothing new under the blue skies above
        the pain of acute loss is never a collective experience