if something is beautiful, poem by Mark Hartenbach

if something is beautiful

it doesn’t have to say anything. it doesn’t have to matter.

it doesn’t have to work it. it doesn’t have to fit in or be

surrounded by complimentary esthetics. if something

is beautiful the steam rises off its flesh & i love the way

it wets my unshaved face. it tastes like strawberries

& harvested smoke. if something is beautiful i’m completely

unaware of the passage of time. it never loses me with

demands or tears or poetry that won’t stop running

down the page & blackens my fingers. if something is

beautiful a mournful hymn sounds like a long drawn out

ecstatic moan. if something is beautiful every inch is

absolutely essential. if something is beautiful i slip my

tongue in 360 degrees clockwise & counterclockwise,

& i listen—i don’t say a damned word.

mark hartenbach’s latest book is “sad lullabies from planet appalachia.”