Plain Beauty

 

A rag rug, similar to the ones my grandmother, Estelle Burrier Smith, used to make.

"Plain Beauty" is a relatively rare sonnet form, the Hopkins curtal sonnet, perhaps the most well-known one being "Pied Beauty".

Although I am an inveterate, unapologetic "formalista" as far as poetry goes, I am known for my plainspoken poetic discourse. Thus, my little antiphon to "plain" beauty.

This poem appears in my fifth book, "Pointing Home" (Kelsay Books, 2019)

Line 9 refers to a line from "Misgiving" by another plainspoken poet, Robert Frost.

My audio recording of a first draft of "Plain Beauty" is  HERE.

 

Plain Beauty

 

Glory be to God for homely things—

     For muddy boots and oil-stained dungarees;

            For calloused hands that knead and scrub and hem;

 

Threadbare baby blankets; apron strings;

    A copybook of blotted ABCs;

            And drowsy lullabies at 3 a.m.

 

All things modest, unassuming, rough;

     Rag rugs, first drafts, eucalyptus trees;

            Plain-spoken poems (foliage . . . leaf and stem);

 

They whelm the world in love. It’s not enough.

                        Love them.