Ode to the Silhouette
(For Laurel)
Sometimes I just observe my wife from afar,
That distant profile, an outline, a silhouette.
Light imbues beauty,
From ancient marble to the present!
More than ever, there is an urgency to recognize
Beautification, to promote harmony and civility.
Think for a moment:
The patriarchs burned villages, not the women,
The patriarchs slaughtered the innocent, not the women,
The patriarchs denuded the lands, not the women.
Women are the creators, life bearers, not the destroyers.
Women at heart, are not the oppressors or conquerors.
Sometime I just observe my wife from afar,
When light reflects the silhouette,
When light profiles the beauty,
When light crowns the nature of the feminine
And the meaning of our existence still prevails
In that silhouette!
– Burt Baldwin, Bayfield