Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United states of America
Landscape, Olympus OM-2, Poetry
by Patrick Jennings

Beauty ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #18

Beauty in the beholder’s eye
As if we create the beauty

But Nature in all her ways
When left to her own devices
She paints and sculpts
Beauty undeniable

That is just the Way
The Dao, Nature’s way
Beautiful is
All that follows the Way

Even the blackness and destruction
Of a forest after fire

Fire follows Nature’s way
Keeping the balance of a living land
Renewing it, so it may go on living
Therein is fire’s beauty

Burnt land is ugliness
When the beholder does not see the Way
While ugliness comes from the hand
Which works against the Way

For those unfamiliar with Daoism and Eastern mysticism, Benjamin Hoff provides an excellent introduction in his wonderful book, The Tao of Pooh. The passage describing The Vinegar Tasters is particularly useful when thinking about beauty in the way this poem treats it.
Midway Geyser Basin
Yellowstone National Park
Wyoming, United States of America

Taken during travels, 1996

The Pic and a Word Challenge is a weekly creativity prompt offered Sunday mornings.

Each week I provide a photograph of mine along with a single word. The challenge? Use the pic and/or word as points of inspiration to create something — a photograph, a painting, prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, longread or just a few words. You are welcome to use these two elements (photograph and word) literally, thematically or metaphorically. If you create both images and words, all the better.

To participate:

  • Use any title you like.
  • Your response can be words and/or an image
  • Better if the words are your own
  • You may use my image in your post, or any image you have created.
  • Place the challenge’s Pic (if you use it for inspiration) and Word prominently in your post
  • Mention that you are responding to the Pic and a Word Challenge
  • Add a link to this post in your response

To help us find your response, you can also:

Each week, I’ll list the previous week’s responses at the end of the new challenge. I may also share some on my social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc.

Last week we rode the tide, stayed in the flow… This week, find the beauty there, in front of you, the beauty in all things.

Last week’s challenge: Flow

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States of America
Challenge #17: Flow
The word for last week’s Pic and a Word Challenge #17 was Flow, along with this photograph of mineral deposits at Yellowstone National Parks’ Mammoth Hot Springs.

Five flowing posts this week. Thanks everyone!