(5 3 38 / leipzig)

What do you think this poem is about?

accidental beauty

The beauty of a ruin may be best
appreciated by a rank outsider,
observing it as uninvited guest,
without the context of a view that’s wider.
Behind the fallen walls there often lie
sad stories of inhabitants who perished
in homes that once abandoned now supply
the ruins travelers long have cherished.
The pleasure coming from the accidental
beauty, burgeoning till it decays,
appeals to anyone who’s sentimental
when seeing signs of others’ judgment days.

Submitted: Friday, October 13, 2006
Edited: Saturday, October 16, 2010

Comments about this poem (accidental beauty by gershon hepner )

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  • Ken E Hall (5/28/2010 3:16:00 AM)

    Accidental beauty is a beauty of a poem which can make up lots of pages of history ie the coliseum in Rome....thanks for the read
    regards
    PS Seeyou are an author, I have just started reading 'The Other Side of Israel' by
    Susan Nathan.

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  • Ken E Hall (5/28/2010 3:10:00 AM)

    Accidental beauty is a beauty of a poem which can make up lots of pages of history ie the coliseum in Rome....thanks for the read
    regards

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  • dr veenaa rai (8/5/2009 9:19:00 PM)

    ruins of a life may look lovely to those who ve not suffered what the ruins were before they let go...sensitive piece of writing, dr sir

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  • , aryaindia (9/10/2008 10:34:00 AM)

    Your consensus on accidental beauty is amazing. arya

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  • Don Mcwilliams (3/3/2008 1:19:00 PM)

    Lyrically beautiful and profound, Gershon. Thanks for sharing.

    Best,
    Don

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  • Fred Babbin (12/6/2007 10:15:00 AM)

    Right on target. There are so many things we take for granted that are really double-edged. I think that's a major problem with the world today, especially when the two sides cut each other.

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  • Linda Hepner (10/22/2006 6:56:00 PM)

    How often for instance we are struck by houses or corners of cities that we know need to be preserved, while the locals who see them as antiquated wish to put up something new. Ruins too... ask Wordsworth.

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  • Moon Batchelder (10/13/2006 4:32:00 PM)

    what a great poem...with great insights...not strictly for the purely obvious, but also if taken as a parable for other ruins...thanks so much

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  • Joe Breunig (10/13/2006 4:05:00 PM)

    How true - a wonderful rendition of what many people take for granted.

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Read all 9 comments »

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