AMONG THE BEST
I usually refrain from saying any one thing is the best of the lot.
To make such a choice, one needs to have studied the entire collection. Right? I cannot honestly say which one is I think to be best of all until I had examined all other contenders.
I keep coming across a small fragment of verse which always hits me as being one of the prime expressions to be found in the English language with more poetic imagery per square inch than most other writing.
It is not a widely accepted piece of poetry at all. I see it in the oddest places - everything from folksy scrapbooks assembled over many years by some little old lady and only recently "published" as a random collection of humorous or inspiring bits of writing. This particular item is often center-paged and set apart in a suggested frame of some sort, as if the keeper of the pages thought it to be especially worthwhile. I have yet to see anyone credited with having written it, not even "Anon". There is never a credit line ascribing the simple thought to any one person.
It attests, in four, simple, straightforward lines, to an item intrinsically and innately beautiful. It is not complex in the sense of any complicated verse form such as that of the Japanese Haiku. It is not quirky, uniquely syllabic or ornate. It is not a limerick, and certainly not intended to be controlled or manipulated in any manner.
As with the finest jewels to be found anywhere, it may not be impressive at first sight. It can be easily overshadowed by gaudy baubles held nearby, so be prepared to read and, then, re-read the item with reflective evaluation in full running condition. Ready? Without any encumbering title or name...
" As a candle
in a quiet place.
Such is the beauty
of an aged face."
I don't know where it came from. It is, to me, a fine fragment of man's appreciation of a fleeting realization of goodness which fill out lives and which, so often, goes unseen... unheard... unknown. I have come across versions of it, too...changes of a few words, but it never seems to detract from the total image. i.e: "As a candle held in a quiet place. Of such is the beauty of an aged face." The next time you find yourself in the presence of an older person sitting relaxed and waiting, repeat those simple lines softly and you will become aware you are seeing true beauty, for the first time, perhaps.
A.L.M. March 10, 2003 [c440wds]
