Seeing [rachel]

A friend once asked me,
“Do you see beauty in Lebanon?”
My quick answer was yes,
But when prompted, “Where?”
I hesitated.
Then it came one day--
Sitting down to write in the living room
The painting on the wall caught my attention:
Many colored swirls blend together
Purple into red into blue into green into yellow into red
Brightening the room
Even without the lamp in the corner
Illuminating--
I stepped outside for a stroll
Walked briskly towards Chestnut with its trees
I watched the faces of the people
Some tired, some sad, some all business;
I gazed at the school and the mothers of children
Holding hands, straightening clothes, zipping up jackets.
Turning right I passed Deraco’s, Arnold’s, the Market
Bustling. I met
The 4 corners of the intersection,
8th and Cumberland.
The wind rushed up all at once
Catching my breath with the movement
Swirling it in with the sights and sounds:
People calling
Leaves rustling
Engines engaging.
The whirlwind started to take shape
Visually
Funneling into many-colored swirls
Of purple of red of blue of green of yellow of red.
I can’t stop feeling, hearing, seeing;
I know the beauty when I look
Through the artist’s eyes.