The Secret Life of Beauty

On the backside of the city street,
things are not so decorous.
The paint has peeled from a century of storms and sun.
Windows are broken,
and there are bars on the windows
and cracks in the brickwork
where foundations have shifted with age and abuse.
Stray cats wander the alley in search of leftovers and vermin.

But at night, the balconies are full of lovers and children.
A guitar plays in the night.
There is life
defying
the decay.

About this poem

Often, even among the broken, there is a secret life of beauty. We can see it only when we have the patience to wait and ignore the broken facade.

The picture was taken in Savannah.

Tom