I’m sitting in Shari’s restaurant watching the door.
Very few people coming & going.
Sane people are sleeping on a work / school night.
(It’s Wednesday – 1:15am)

A girl walks in dressed in black, might be 16.
Dark circles under her reddened eyes, pale skin.
Probably goth, maybe just a punk.
No doubt hanging with the wrong crowd,
doing drugs & who knows what else.
Oh yeah, school night.
More than likely a high school dropout.
Why these kids want to live like this
& waste their lives is just beyond me.

And so I pass judgment,
my own fears & opinions painting the canvass
with so many shades of bias, prejudice, and cynicism.
If Beauty is in the eye of the beholder;
does not the opposite hold true ?
This girl – she has a name, and if I had taken the time
to smile instead of scorn in smug reproach
I might have learned it.
Rather than dismiss her as a worthless outcast,
I could have found out that she spent the night
in turmoil anguishing over the recent death of her mother.
The funeral only hours ago a sad ceremony of her loss…
Ever been to the funeral of your mother or father,
who was also your best friend ? It has that effect.
Bloodshot eyes a testimony of her presence
at the hospital day & night…

Now I see a beautiful young Lady – full of love and Life
– sad and grieving for the precious woman who gave her life.

I drain the last of my coffee.
My eyes are getting tired. It’s 2:15am
But I can’t stop thinking about her.
I’ve always felt that in some way we learn from everyone we meet.
Now I am reminded that there are also lessons to be learned
from anyone – stranger to soulmate; friend and foe.
Tears and tragedies can become Treasures and triumphs;
the beauty is there for all to behold.

What you look for will determine what you see……