Light

The beauty within light is something I never noticed before.

The beauty in sunlight pouring through the leaves mid-afternoon.

Not cobwebs on a lonely bookshelf, but in a neighbor's forestry yard.

Wind blowing on your back from summer into fall

The taste of fresh air after being cooped up

Clean and crisp

The beauty in how my worn-in shoes crease

How yours are new, but soon to be full of new journeys.

The beauty is how I know your favorite flower is baby's breath

And how you know mine are daisies.

The rubbing of plastic doorknobs and the stench of sharpie-stained desks.

My bed and music. Songs suffocated me further into my pillow, the atmosphere filling as I

wished to be alone.

The beauty in a crosswalk

So suburban and nostalgic

Like a movie set, actors change for every production, the set the same

A place where scenes unfold, under foggy moonlit skies or summer heat.

The beauty in sweat. The stains on your clothes.

But it dribbles down your back, a smile on your face, as you chase around the bright green

grass

Not caring about memories but about play.

Not if you think about how you looked later, tired and gross

But if you're having fun, no matter what others see

The beauty that lies within those I see around

A respectful nod. I notice how their hair is chocolate, long and knotted, or short and white and

aging away.

I notice their steps. If they smile or not.

The beauty in what my classmates wear.

Someone bought new sneakers. One is wearing a hoodie they've never changed. The same

purple I’ve seen them in since the first day of middle school.

Familiar faces I used to grow tired of

But now bring comfort.

But then I see the beauty in things I used to pass by

While I wished it all away for a better life

More interesting

Just more better, really.

A change.

But really, it is interesting

Once you realize you will leave.

The beauty within the light fades with the day.

My time ages away

Day after day after day

The same things. Strange, new things.

I used to be fun. I used to not care. Now I pretend to not, not care.

I used to think that i would never see sunlight again

I could never walk on my same old street and see the sparkling beacon of light.

My eyes wouldn't let me

But now moonlight exists.

And that beauty is nice too.

Maybe this time I'll notice it before I get too old

To regret how I believed it was never there.