For the Love of Imperfection

By D. R. DiFrancesco

Dark of night casts no shadow upon you,

Your radiance like a shield rejects the approaching twilight,

Do you recognize your own brilliance?

A resounding no projects itself to the world.

From the first time I beheld you,

Captivated by an acumen cast by the maker himself,

Sharp and heated as a solar flare,

Scorched impressions left on everyone in it’s path.

Yet surviving within your universal turbulence is tenderness,

Soft and warm drawing in those most dear,

Contrary to your impetuous past,

You shine your bronze rays on all that surrounds you.

You are stellar and strong,

Divine in your organic beauty,

Any change would make you less than who you were meant to be,

Perfect in your humanly flawed design.

Old Man in the Mirror – (A Poem)

Time humbles the man,

Back arching under the weight of a lifetime,

Old photographs,

A reminder of good friends and loves that long ago passed.

 

The mind drifts,

Not as sharp or quick witted as it once was,

Long gone memories much fresher than today,

Then again, yesterday fits me much better.

 

Hair gone white,

Deep creases travel like dry river beds across my face,

Skin soft and sagging,

Looking in the mirror I can scarcely recognize myself.

 

Who is that old man staring back at me?

Drawn and tired,

Teeth yellowed, eyelids hanging like cheap suits,

I know it’s me inside this costume.

 

The crumbling exterior,

A vessel for a lifetime of wisdom and experience.

Earned through pain, suffering, love, and joy,

A gift wasted on the young.

 

None of this would I trade for the impetuousness of youth,

Born of  blood sweat, and tears,

Etched in my face as a reminder,

A badge to be worn with honor.