108 Names of Beauty
lithe-leaping beauty – a young man jumps off the walls, more or less for joy & because he can
patterned & repetitive beauty – William Morris paper
sleek-haired beauty – a long black braid down the back
sustained beauty – the old ballerina hovers to meet the floor before her, legs spread wide
steady-growing beauty – the huge old beech tree, roots at least as deep as branches are wide
animal beauty– a dog’s perfectly-applied eyeliner
elaborate beauty – a wedding dress of lace, with a satin belt in a bow
beauty of negative spaces locking into positive spaces – Hokusai
beauty of ugliness – the taste of durian fruit
beauty of famous art – participating in loving a painting with many others in the same room, looking
actors’ beauty onscreen – feeling it is impossible not to wonder at the fact that Penelope Cruz even exists
actors’ beauty offscreen – and how it is always somehow different
beauty of old people who have not given up
beauty of children when they don’t think about it
beauty of domesticated flowers – how they grow from seed, right there in your garden, even though you know so little
beauty of wild flowers – how they grow profligately & even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these
beauty of cold, powerful German cars & glass buildings
beauty of well-crafted Damascene steel swords
mountainous beauty – there is nothing useful that can be said about seeing the Himalayas from the plastic window of an airplane
beauty of the sky at dusk
beauty of the sky at high altitude
Himalayan blue poppies
indigo
cerulean
Prussian blue
blue glass bottles, whole or broken by the sea
delphiniums
freaky blue eyes of Irish spotted ponies
forget-me-nots
Tibetan clouds, printed on Nepalese sky-blue lokta paper
the Virgin Mary’s deep blue cloak, with a red shift beneath it
eggplant-purple
cowrie-shell-purple
caput mortuum
iris-purple
ladies who wear purple every day, including their shoes & nails & amethyst crystals
purple soil of Utah
vermilion ink for Chinese stamps
deepest red of roses
alizarin crimson
quinacridone magenta
cochineal-carmine-red, made of millions of insects
ripe cherry red
blood red
raspberry-dusky red
pink of John McCracken’s The Absolutely Naked Fragrance
beet-red risotto
pink edges of white roses
scallop-roe orange
mussel-flesh orange
gravlax orange
melon orange
turmeric-dye yellow-orange
egg yolk
amber
cadmium yellow
naples yellow
yellow gold torus made by Vikings
joss paper
bumblebee covered in pollen
yellow-green lichen in Yosemite
hellebore
jade disc
hornworm
Old Holland green-gold paint in a lead tube
interference green on a dark background
green eyes in dark-skinned faces
fern-green in the early spring
viridian
Veronese green
translucent kelp green on a beach where the winter sun is setting
spinach
celadon
emerald
snow
milk
alabaster windows
clear white teeth of young animals
new paper
old paper
skin (pink-and-white)
skin (blue-black & as dark as skin can be)
skin (brown with sun & hot places)
skin (very old and fragile, where you can see through it into the body)
skin (hairy at the belly and chest)
skin (smooth at the belly and chest)
obsidian
burnished clay black
black sheep
brown sheep with black-and-white noses and long tails
bells ringing noon
deep bass of the dance club resonating in the body
bad ideas set to beautiful song
beauty of empty rooms
beauty of hidden spaces
beauty of shared food
beauty of merciful eyes
beauty of Zen people in dark robes
beauty of wedding guests in pink dresses
beauty of wedding guests in fine houndstooth jackets
beauty of agreeing to live your life
beauty of letting go
beauty of winter afternoon walking meditation, sucking in pellucid green light
beauty of everything in wave-form
beauty of everything just as it is
beauty of realizing this pain is a bridge
beauty of not-knowing
beauty of each day’s new litany