#Poem - strange wonder

One of the things I noticed about you first
Was the way you gazed in awestruck joy
At beauty.
I’m sure that others have this gift.
I just had never noticed before you,
In the way I saw it in you.

And so often when I could not see the
Beauty you saw, I would look too hard.
Yet once I connected with the source
Of your awe, the simplicity and depth
Of the gorgeousness were enough to
Sweep me off my feet.

Now, a decade later, I still see that look
Of awe
Cascade across the lovely shape of your
Face; transforming it into an
Astounding and astounded
Glow.

And it is — many days —
This glow that first lights up
My life.

More than that, you have inspired me
To look afresh at the whole world:
The things of beauty —
And an ever-extending definition
Of what beauty is, for everyone and
Everything carries a kind of beauty.
Seeing what I used to call ugly as
Beautiful now is an expansion that
I never could have imagined without
Your inspiration.

I’ve heard that the Latin word from which
Inspire comes, means “to breathe”.

And so it is that you have brought
A true, full
Breath
Into my life.