LOOKING DEEPER

Sometimes it is hard to tell ─
Is lime-green pond scum beautiful?
It is when you know it means
water is present.
It is when you peer through a microscope
and see graceful filaments and a home
for myriads of shimmering protozoa.

Sometimes it is hard to tell ─
Is polluted air beautiful?
It is at the close of the day
when you enjoy hazy, lazy sunsets.
It is when the setting sun
glows burnt-orange or hovers
as a burnished copper disk.

Sometimes it is hard to tell ─
Is an oil slick on a damp driveway beautiful?
It is when one notices an iridescence
of peacock plumes and rainbows.

Sometimes it is hard to tell ─
Is the swoosh of busy car traffic beautiful?
It is when it reminds you of wind-whispers
passing through pine boughs, or distant
waves breaking upon a pebbled beach.

It is when it is a harbinger of
a loved family about to arrive.