The Perception Of Beauty Poem by Anita Atina

The perception of beauty
Is only the opposite of
The perception of ugliness

Reality is different
From the made-up images
You see everywhere

She may be, brown or black, white or yellow
Carrying the marks of life, happily
Every scrape, every scar, every stretch

Children borne and fed
Not the spring of youth
But the sensuality of knowing, what pleases her
And the courage to explore, what pleases him

Not the coy freshness of girlhood
But the openness of passion unbound
Desire fueled by two simple truths:

That souls need to rejoice in sweet surrender
And the duality of reality,
Rarely matches up to the perfection of fantasy