Left Unsaid

On Beauty

BY KAHLIL GIBRAN

And a poet said, Speak to us of Beauty.

     And he answered:

     Where shall you seek beauty, and how

shall you find her unless she herself be your

way and your guide?

     And how shall you speak of her except

she be the weaver of your speech?

                 *******

My love for nature isn't something I show. Wait, Perhaps I do, as subtly as Bhansali shows his awe for grandiose backdrops or how Lady Gaga shows her fashion sense. That being said, everyone that knows me even on the surface, knows my love for God's creation. But pray, what could be a more close display of his master craft than the form of a woman? So, nature's most prized creation, the feminine, is my muse for the day. Not just any mind you but a particular one I had the good fortune of beholding. So off I go, as that beauty aids the weave of my words.

When I first saw her, I probably experienced what they really mean when they say "stunning beauty" - I am pretty poker faced if my near and dear are to be believed about how transparent I am with my facial expressions, but something tells me that on that fateful evening, I looked every bit of the 'deer in headlights' when I beheld her form. She comes in and sits in front of me while wishing me. Her voice, her expression, her demeanor kick up her grace a few notches. At this moment, I should probably provide a disclaimer about my orientation, but like I said, it is blasphemy for a nature lover not to love the craft that went into creating a woman. My shuffled mind looks inside for ammunition to play along my awe. "Afreen Afreen" an old strain from my young adult years gently plays in my mind. I stay aware and engage her in the conversation while random Poets from random eras keep whispering their most cherished lines in my ear..

".....a joy for ever.."

"...like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies"

".....I fain to tell the things that I behold, 

But feel my wits to fail, and tongue to fold."

People that know me well also know about the infamous 'toddler's attention span' - So, predictably, I should have gotten over the infatuation right? Wrong!

A friend of mine, years ago, defined stunning beauty for me. "A stunning beauty is something that you can never get over. Every time you see the object of beauty, the first thing that occurs to you is the beauty". (two year old's attention span, notwithstanding) Fair enough, I thought. But what you don't experience you don't understand. And decades down, something magical happens, and poof....and you understand. Talk about the system providing you with answers long before you face the questions.

So again, and again and again - I feel the rapture, the bliss, the beauty, that is a joy forever. 

I think the most precious compliments we ever get are the ones that remain unsaid. They spring up in random peoples hearts and souls - on the tram, by the sidewalk, (or case in point - a class, when one sees a student's mother )and stay there wrapped, never to be unraveled.

I try consciously to let them know, when such unfiltered appreciation springs up in my heart, almost always. May be I'll email her a video of Rahat fateh ali khan crooning Afreen afreen and say this is what plays in my head every time I see her. 

Reckon she'll ignore me, or worse yet fear me? 

Reckon she'll reply in blush emojis and say "Aww Thank you"

Reckon???

The result shouldn't matter. I am not pursuing her. I just am at a safe distance loving, just for the sake of love.

That shouldn't garner a block, or a shock! That shouldn't :-D

I am sure she'll understand my artistic liberties ;) For what are feeling worth if they aren't professed?