Sunday, August 2, 2015

Beautiful Boy

Malcolm Young, mid 1970's
 

Beautiful boy
From a faded photograph
Taken forty or so years ago
Some people callously say
You can add that to the list of things
That no longer mean anything
You will never find me thinking that way
Your beauty was never an all on the outside thing
Which is why it remains
Even now
 
~Cie~
 
Prompts Used:
 
 

42 comments:

  1. So far I appear to be the only person who didn't incorporate the "trespass" suggestion into their poem. I guess I suck, but it really didn't end up fitting.

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    1. The "trespass" is just a suggestion, and I think what you did was perfect without it. This is an uplifting piece, which brings to mind the real meaning of balanced beauty and worth. Like you said, trespass just wouldn't fit.

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    2. Thank you. I don't like to shoehorn concepts in, but everyone else did it so beautifully!

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  2. Also, my apologies to people with Wordpress blogs. I don't seem to be able to leave comments on your blogs. I'm sorry, I truly did try!

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    Replies
    1. I've been having problems commenting on a few blogs, too. I've gotten around that by looking to see if they have Facebook, Twitter or any other social media site with a public profile, and I've commented there.

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  3. You can add that to the list of things
    That no longer mean anything
    You will never find me thinking that way...

    Very nicely spoken!

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  4. This has a bittersweet and sentimental voice that I find intriguing. Thanks for posting.

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    1. Thank you. Bittersweet and sentimental would be accurate. This fellow became a hero of mine when I was twelve years old. He now can remember nothing about what he did during the course of his life, and it breaks my heart.

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  5. You are not the only one; I also didn't. I meant to, but it didn't fit my poem either. It wasn't compulsory. And I love what you do say! I also like the unsaid, which makes the 'Even now' all the more powerful.

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    1. Thank you so much.
      I've actually said the unsaid a few times on this website. It attracted a troll, which my blogging teammates had fun batting about like cats playing with a mouse.

      Delete
  6. "You can add that to the list of things / That no longer mean anything"...thank god this is not true for him...a nice tribute....

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    1. Thank you. Our society tends to treat people as disposable. I try not to be that way.

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  7. Nice, I like old faded photo ~ Beauty that lasts is always in the inside ~

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    1. I agree. I could look at old photos for hours.
      My son once took a photography class during voluntary summer school. He didn't need to go to summer school, but wanted to get ahead on his credits. He had one photo of himself which he oversaturated to make it look faded. When I looked at it, it was like I was looking at it from another lifetime, thinking "who is this wonderful young man? I would like to have known him."

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  8. No. It's jamming in a word that doesn't fit that sucks. I think you did fine.

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  9. "Your beauty was never an all on the outside thing"

    Love that line, especially after reading the one that follows it.

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  10. he certainly was TNT, wasn't he? ~

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    1. Indeed, and he didn't know it. He was actually very shy. It was evident that when he posed for photos like this one, he felt a bit silly.

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    2. His brother, on the other hand, was prone to stripping down to a grin at the drop of a hat, and seemed to get a great kick out of doing so. Silly critter!
      Angus is nowhere near as smiley and manic as he used to be. I think what's happened to his big brother really took the wind out of his sails. They were very close.
      Illnesses like the one Malcolm has devastate not only the person who has the illness, but everyone who cares about them as well. It's kind of like a nuclear bomb. It's worse than a strictly physical illness, because it leaves the person with nothing of themselves, and unable to interact with those who care about them.
      My father had vascular dementia. He knew his family members to the end, but he was severely compromised. Watching someone lose their cognitive abilities is the worst.

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  11. oh, btw, with WP blogs - there's an ongoing argument between blogger and WP with respect to OpenID. same thing in reverse, WP to blogger - stupid territorial nonsense. anyways, one way around this is to establish a WP blog (use the same or a different name) and then post a page on the WP blog pointing back to your blogger site...

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    1. I actually do have a WP blog. Haven't used it in ages. I got tired of blogging on two platforms, and being old school as I am, I preferred to stay with Blogger. I'll have to get around to making a page that points to my Blogger sites.

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    2. I did leave a comment on your lovely poem--the gift of the cup of your smile--but it was eaten by Wordpress. :-(

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    3. I saw it - it was in the spam folder! but now released (like the Kraken I guess). I don't blog on 2 sites - I just comment from blogger, and keep my pens to the WP site...

      Delete
  12. AWww, this is really nice. I'm a bit embarrassed to say I had to look up Malcom, though of course knew the band.

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    1. Ah well, most people do tend to say "who?" when given the name. Funny thing is, the band wouldn't have existed without him--it was his idea. It was good fortune that the quiet guy had a manic brother who became a recognizable face for the operation.

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  13. I do not know Malcom Young, honestly, but I do understand the idea of internal beauty--which you have captured well. Thanks. k.

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    1. I could say that to know him is to love him, but I reckon that's subjective. Honestly, he's a fundamentally decent person with a sensitive soul who is going through hell. I think he's worth commemorating. A lot of people in the music business seem to get really stuck on themselves. He never did. He always remained kind and humble. In this world, that's really something.

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  14. Beautifully said, Cie.
    He had that soft-faced kind of pretty look at the point in his life when the picture was taken. That look doesn't last much past one's thirtieth year.
    He's still handsome, even in his current compromised state.
    But most importantly, he was and always will be beautiful.

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  15. Yesterday, I heard on the radio that this week marks the 35th anniversary of the release of Back In Black. Hard to believe, isn't it?

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    1. Ach, now I feel old, the same way I feel old when I say "I have a 25 year old son."
      I never feel old when I say I'm fifty. But saying my son's 25 makes me feel old, as does knowing most of the music I listen to is older than he is!
      That's okay, though. At least the Son has good taste in music, just like his dear old ma.

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  16. Yes, that beautiful soul/spirit is ageless. Lovely piece

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  17. He is a beautiful person, Cie, and was very smart. It's tragic that such a thing has happened to a beautiful mind.

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  18. A lovely person who handled a horrible situation with great dignity. It's a sad shame that he had to, and a horrifying thing that now he remembers none of it at all.

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