Love Poetry: you are not perfect

by Ryan Bennett
(Southlake, Texas, USA)

'you are not perfect, you are the sea
you are
each imperfect ripple
each uneven wave
each fluid, formless crest

the sea does not move gracefully
grace is order
predictable
boring
the sea does not embody form
it has no time for such silly Platonisms
it defies convention
ebbs and flows with
passion, with feeling, with honesty
graceful waves mean nothing
next to the realness
the oneness
the too-muchness of the sea

you are not perfect, you are each
distinct current
random cross wind
each wonderful, singular motion
never to be repeated



perfection is the realists
it is each shadow ideally formed
it is every beam of molten sun
arranged in complex but easy patterns

to the sea, light is whimsy
she drapes herself in strange forms
of clouds twisting in the wind
she adornes her brow with
crumbling crowns of moon beams
her breast with a necklace of shifting sunlight





the sea is a Pollack
conceived in the dark corners of the dreams
of a genius
rejected by many
misunderstood
but to we happy few
there is nothing more beautiful

you are not perfect
you are the light and shadow as they should be
the deepest blues and grays
mysterious
and devoid of human imposition



pefection is reserve
it is guarded emotion
calculated revelation
everything proper
and nothing real

the sea is unbridled authenticity
she is an enigma, a lover, and a free spirit
never waiting for the “right” moment
she is ever passionate, wild

the sea holds nothing back
lives each moment with frightening intensity
loves without reservation or fear of loss
to meet her is to know her
yet a lifetime of study
volumes of observation, of theory, of “facts”
can never truly show you the sea

you are not perfect
you are everything at once
you are too much to know
but too wonderful not to

you are not perfect, you are the sea'


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