Forgotten Beauty

We are so used to looking at the world through the lens of a camera,

that we forget to enjoy the view with ourselves.

The river, with the sun reflecting off the waves,

looking like a carpet of sparkling diamonds

Cadence of music floating through the air,

entering through one ear and out the other,

passing through my heart in the process,

which swelled with the corresponding beat of the melody.

Passing beneath the subway, a train passes by,

so loud it seems to shake me to my core,

vibrating inside my chest so it seems that the train is going through me,

rather than above me.

The satisfying crunch of a leaf crushed underfoot.

A cloudless sky, its blue so rich and bright,

a heavenly ocean bigger than any sea.

Today, I walk through a puddle.

Burdened with self consciousness,

I discreetly peek over my shoulder

to observe my watery footprints on the sidewalk.

For alas, the act of such simple childlike pleasure

would seem peculiar in behavior for my teenage self.

It is so rare for people to enjoy the simplest joy in life,

That it when one does it becomes an oddity.

Why are children free to gaze in wonder,

But it is odd for me to walk while staring at the sky,

Odd for me to walk in zigzag carefully stepping on the dry Autumn leaves,

Odd for me to press against the window of a subway car, eyes fixed on the diamond river?

I cannot remember outgrowing these feelings

These wonders are clothes that never will never shrink or tear,

But I still feel embarrassed putting them on.

But whether in secret or in public, I cannot let them go

The world is simply too beautiful

To waste in aloofness.