Fool To Consider Me Beautiful Poem by Lori Boulard

Surely you've seen the wreckage beauty brings?
Beauty.
Is it your youth you see in the waves
of my hair, so readily sheared in the heat
of summer - or anger - fleeting only to leave
you with brittle ghosts of gray? Is it my soul
you imagine born of angels, while fumbling
for my devils in the dark?

Beauty is treacherous business;
waters too shallow for diving unprotected.
Far better for us both if you see me
as average. Homely, even.
Allow my better qualities a shot at the podium.
So guard your expectations
and I'll mind my manners,
and we may just make it to breakfast.





(inspired by Billy Collins' 'Nightclub')