Beauty & Truth at a Final Destination
Not my usual fare, but something I wrote a few years back.
TWO PEOPLE MET ONE NIGHT
A man and woman happened to be booked into a hotel in adjoining suites for a gathering. The door that separated their respective dwellings happened to be open, so they exchanged formalities. It was the twilight hour, that moment between departing light and impending darkness; a hesitation when all of existence seems suspended.
"What brings you here?" the man asked.
"I'm here because I have believed in beauty and have devoted my life to this calling," the lady said.
"Ah, an artist," the gentlemen replied.
"What happened to bring you here?" she asked.
"Truth finally led me to this place," he said. "It is the star I have followed. Nothing else has mattered."
"I have felt the same about beauty," she said. "It’s been my guiding light."
"Well, it seems we are brethren," the man suggested."Two people who have devoted their lives to our respective muses. Now it seems each of us has reached our destination."
"Yes," she said, "I think that's true."
"A beautiful thought," he added.
And so, as kinsmen met at night,
They talked between the rooms,
Until the moss had reached their lips,
And covered up their names.
(Based on a poem by Emily Dickinson)
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