Loving The Unlovely
Don’t mock or laugh at others, nor treat them indifferently,
Just because you think they’re odd, weak, silly, even ugly.
No, never treat unkindly any human on this earth;
Remember: They’re someone’s child, and had no say in their birth.
Yes, love and help the difficult, the misfits, the unlovely,
For they need your love also, more so, unconditionally.
We all love the loveable; that’s easy, natural too,
But loving the unlovely is the greater thing to do.
It’s easy to love our own, they’re our loved ones, after all,
But for most, loving the unlovely is a very hard call.
Yet, such love’s pure love — and in each of us — such love should be;
Such doesn’t seek to get, just seeks to give, for it’s self free.
Everyone is different, the product of many things,
Hence why out of each one’s life, both good and bad, flows or springs.
Take time to get to know folk, accept them the way they are,
Yes, tolerance and understanding have always gone far.
It’s hard enough for many that they feel the way they do,
That they’re struggling with their quirks, anxieties, obsessions too.
Such folk need a helping hand, not those whispers, looks or comments,
Nor thoughtless indifference, that to some, is more intense.
Many not so well endowed with looks, physique, or IQ,
Are made to feel inferior by sad things folk say and do.
You may say that folk can choose to feel that way or not, but,
Is anything that easy, and sometimes, things really cut.
Yes, love and help the difficult, the misfits, the unlovely,
For they need your love also, more so, unconditionally.
Never just love your loved ones, or those you’re attracted to,
But show love and care to all — for that’s the greater thing to do.
By Lance Landall
Skin Deep
Let’s halt this foolish preoccupation with the body,
This hang up over image, this obsession with beauty.
Rather, let’s seek out the less well endowed, change direction,
And focus on inner beauty, not outward perfection.
Who can measure up but the fortunate, or are they so?
For many fall victim to their own beauty, downhill go.
Others succumb to adverts, pressure, are easily led,
Letting others pull their strings and play around with their head.
Beauty’s often a handicap, a cause of wrongful pride,
A fleeting, skin deep experience best not glorified.
And in time — those so fixated — will feel it more keenly
When age attacks the body, and sometimes very meanly.
As well, misfortune can occur, marring beauty also,
Which many hooked on the body have sadly come to know.
Hence why it doesn’t pay to focus on outward beauty,
But rather, on inward beauty; beauty carried humbly.
“Pride goeth before a fall,” it’s said, and it certainly can,
For it’s often been the downfall of a woman or man.
It’s better to just be ourselves, warts and all, so to speak,
And not join the seduced, who some glamorous image seek.
Yes, let’s seek out the less well endowed who’ve visible flaws,
The everyday person relegated to the back stalls.
Let’s put them on a pedestal, if we must, not the airbrushed,
Whose unrealness cruelly taunts, and sees many spirits crushed.
It’s one thing to notice beauty, but hey, let’s leave it there,
And let character, not looks or fashion, our daily path steer.
It’s what’s inside that matters, not how we look, nor how we dress,
So, let’s ease off the body, let’s stop trying to impress.
By Lance Landall
It's Time To Refocus
With the day being a lovely summer’s day, I took a stroll into town, but was terribly saddened to see
Someone's friendly but neglected cat lazing in a gutter near shops and traffic, so perilously.
I stopped to stroke its little head with my fingers, not wishing to run my hand over its mangy body,
And feeling disturbed by its plight, mindful of those cats at home treated so very differently.
As I continued further on, I saw a woman who only had one eye; a young girl in a wheelchair;
Some young men in a van — they mentally handicapped — and there were others I saw, each with burdens to bear.
And I thought of how tragic it was, and is, given the current fixation with the body beautiful,
Which has little to do with the person, for our body is just a shell — and age inevitable.
And yet, those with lesser shells, or some very unfortunate condition, aren’t given the same time of day,
The focus foolishly being elsewhere — yes, the trite, sexy or sophisticated having far too much say.
And we, all the worse for such, as it’s only what’s within that counts, and given that beauty soon fades away,
Which means that where too much weight has been given to such, it’s loss will be noticed more, and cause greater dismay.
Yes, the streets are full of injuries; broken and disfigured bodies-cum-less attractive shells, tragically,
For life can be very cruel, and Nature random — and far too often, thought and care lacking in humanity.
And why we need to stop and show we care wherever we can, and focus less on the body, if at all,
Aware that the body is nothing but a shell, and also mindful that misfortune — us too — could befall.
By Lance Landall
You might also like to read my poem "Beauty Beware".
