THE CREATURE

If you ever catch Beauty

buck naked

in the woods,

don’t let her see you.

And for Christ sake

if you dare approach her

do not,

under any circumstance,

tell her how beautiful

she is.

She can’t hear it.

To her ears

her own beauty

in the mouth of another

is not flattery

or adoration,

but insult,

an offense

of the highest order,

that can’t be

remedied,

with apology,

or explanations

of good intention.

And no metaphor

will save the day.

When beauty

gets her ire up

she is the ugliest creature

you’ll ever see.

Don’t take her reaction

personally, though.

It has very little

to do with you.

Beauty’s own ambivalence

with being beautiful

is the issue.

It’s something

she’s never quite

learned to bear.