Today I'Ll Look For Beauty Poem by David Whalen

This Sunday morning
from my usual booth at McD's
I thought to look for something new
For which my eyes to please

I decided this day to look for beauty
In actions, form and graces
And as I gazed, I was amazed
At what I perceived in those faces

The little dark eyed Mexican girls
Of an age no more than three
With umber eyes and ebony curls
Stared wide-eyed back at me

I smiled at such a charming sight
They smiled right back at me
Their mother turned, in a bit of a fright
To see what their children could see

Then her quizzical look lost it's tension
At seeing naught but an old smiling man
The little girls, sharing nothing of mom's apprehension
Happily wiggled hello with all the fingers on both hands

In sharp contrast, at a small table, all alone
Sat a thin regal old lady (probably my age, truth be known)
She possessed that quality of being hewn from stone
That hieroglyphic quality of ancient queens on their throne

A thin nose, somewhat hooked with age
Flinty eyes, of a much faded blue
A woman who could have commanded a stage
T'was it not for a family and too much to do

But even given, the wrinkles and lines
That starburst out from her mouth and her eyes
Methinks they speak of beauty (tho crinkly in kind)
And make her e'en more pretty (at least to ol' guys)

What a contrast in beauty, before me today
The loveliness of the aged, so obvious to see
And the beauty of the children that will graciously change
Into the beauty of women of a certain age

My butt's getting tired, coffee's all drunk
Enough with my thinking, I must be up and without
Perhaps by this noon I'll be drunk as a skunk
And then I'll have something else to go on about