Find beauty

Hey. Hey you.

I know your life probably isn't what you thought it would be, but I hope you can see the beauty in it still.

That the steps between seconds are not lost in the shuffle
Nor the colours that fall in the gaps of a rainbow's natural hue
I hope that the songs which bring a smile to your face are listened to without guilt
That you see the small but glorious things that surround you

Once it is gone, I have missed the way a friend used to say hello
Or the colour of the stone on the streets I used to walk
But I can return, and the absence has taken a toll
There will always be a echo of the way we used to talk

Some folk find beauty in people, or in nature, or in something else still
I hope you find it wherever you can. Even when it is hard to find.
No matter what path life takes you, it is still you doing the journey
And we all need beauty to help us get through those things that bind

The photographer

The photographer earned their wage as you might expect
Photographing conventionally beautiful things without regret
Mountains and models, sunsets and singers
Such elegance captured with a click of their fingers

But it wasn't just that, they were truly a pro
They had a knack for angle and lighting and flow
Heightening whatever existed there before
And elevating it into something much more

...

But the photographer takes fewer appointments each day
They gets enough with what each client will pay
It's in the "free time" that they really ply their trade
With no reputation or money to be made

All inspired by on a warm day by a knock at the door
From a child who looked frozen to their core
The child had seen the pictures, had heard the fame
And wanted just one chance to stand inside the frame

The child was ill, was sickly, and had been told to its face
That it could never be beautiful, or filled with grace
If you've been told enough times you're ugly even if you smile
You'll fight it, believe it, then internalise it after a while

It was the hardest job the photographer had ever done
And even after it was over, didn't know if the battle was won
Until the child saw the photo, and beamed with the biggest most beautiful grin
Then the photographer knew which battles it was worth trying to seek out and win

...

So no matter who asks, if they overlap with his "free time" at all
The photographer will not deign to entertain their calls
Instead look for those people in need and those spots in the shade
Only there will you see the photographer pursue their real trade

Inspiration - https://imgur.com/gallery/1meSLGk 

I'll do this tomorrow

Dear distinguished madam or sir,
Are you too owed a day of productivity?
A promise of "I'll do this tomorrow for sure"
A promise that 'yesterday-you' has extended indefinitely?

Well, I'm delighted to let you know
You may be entitled to compensation
I should tell you in advance though
That it is not a bounteous renumeration

Are you sure you want to open this gift of Pandora?
Becuase if you do take a peak inside
You'll realise there is nothing to make you less poorer
Just many lost days with self-supplied lies

But, well, there is just one more thing
There is the memories of the days you did act
Where you seized the day and its offering
A deep set of memories that you can bring back

And with those memories, there is Hope
You can choose who rises at dawn
And if it happens to be a day you struggle to cope
You don't have to work evening, afternoon, and morn

Write a single line, and it is a line that now exists
That you can make a promise to do more on tomorrow
For when you start fulfilling promises
You will stop focusing on the debt you used to owe

Me, but younger

I remember who I was way back in the day
I remember being young and tryna make my way
I can remember that I struggled and had everything to loose
Now I'm nostalgic for that security and ability to snooze

So I've grown
Older and taller and a little bit wiser
So I've grown
Hopefully kinder and not into a miser
So I've grown
I've met many friends and been many places
So I've grown
And I know that I've worn many different faces

I'm still the same person that I was back then
But I'm not the *same* person I was back then
I've learned many lessons that I wouldn't want to relearn
I'll act in different way if given my turn

I started out a youngest kid learning how to walk
I grow up and figured out how not to mumble but to talk
I paid attention to the barriers I had to pass in education
And finally became less awkward in social situations

I embraced my vulnerability rather than trying to hide it away
All of which lead me to the person I find myself today
And I don't mean superficial things like my hair is longer
Or that I don't appreciate the fact I've got stronger

I mean I don't look back and think "man, he was dense"
It's not third person, just me with les experience
I don't think it helps to imagine the person in the past wasn't me
Just to realise that I was still deciding what "being myself" could be

Songs that make you cry

I find creating tough sometimes
Getting motivation to craft silly rhymes
Trying to find a unique thought I can catch
Then having to make the syllables match

Creation is, at its core, a little bit strange
And though I work on my rhythm and work on my range
I still cling to any moment of virtue I find
All to settle these tenacious doubts in my mind

And then

And then I find a song that makes me cry
And then, and then I want to try
To write something so honest and true
That despite the silly rhymes my heart can pour through

Because you can't cry at something without connecting
To pick up the anguish that person must be projecting
But it takes skill. And patience. And more, all through the pain.
To channel that overflowing emotion into an honest refrain.

I forget it often, but there nothing so inspiring to me
Than to remember how powerful art can be

***

Because this poem naturally hints at an inspiration, I've only just discovered Frank Turner and was listening to Song for Josh. In exchange for sating your curiosity, if you're reading this, please send me a song that really connected with you.