Driving over the rural countryside

The view is normal but also awesome.

Things you would expect on the roadside are there.

But some things seem too gruesome.

Becoming clear is that beauty cannot be

Appreciated unless some ugliness we see.

Just as there can be no gain,

Without a little pain; to use a cliché.

The beauty of the countryside cannot be

Appreciated until the ugliness is seen

As the way life goes.

Death of foxes and does

Must come first for vultures on the wing.

We must have death before

Resurrection; we must see the sad thing

To measure the height and the experiences of joy

That way life is treasured even more.

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Painting: “Norman Countryside, acrylic on canvas board,” 12×18. William Frank Bellais

Copyright © 2012 William Frank. Bellais

All rights reserved.

From: 180^th Meridian and Other Poems and Reflections, Create Space, 2012.