By Ruby Kosek

It is said: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Well, I wish I was bolder.
Because I’d say that’s not true.
Our eyes seem to have a lens that blends
our perception with misconceptions.
Misconceptions created and motivated by hate,
by lies.
I can’t deny that I wish the proverb was true.
I really do.
But the truth lies and pulls at my mind
like laughter at the very wrong time.
I wonder what beauty really is.
Is it joy? Or sorrow?
Pure or fake?
Because in the world today I can’t seem to wake
for the tangle of truth
that has seemed to grow roots.
Even the term beholder is subjective.
And the very idea of objective is not effective.
We have not perfected society.
We are not accepting if the beholder sees
something different from the standard of one person’s reality.
Tell me this beholder’s name.
I would like to have a word,
to tell someone that this beholder is absurd.
I won’t let my words get slurred.
Beauty is in the small whisper of a word.
The sound of that word
as it slips off the lips,
flows down to the hips
and sways with the music.

Honorable Mention: Ruby Kosek
Tamalpais High School