The moon is full and the sky is clear. Tonight, as I look to the sky, the beauty of this world amazes me as I realize just how much there is to be seen, and how much remains hidden until one looks past the makeup, beyond nature, even beyond ones own heart, and considers the wonder of beauty itself.

I look at the ground, the dust, the trees, even the houses, draped in the soft, pale glow of the full-moon. In this moment, I see a world living both in darkness and in light, fearing neither, and loving both, and for a brief moment, begin to wonder, will I ever find another with whom to share moments like this? Moments when the universe opens herself to us, when we can see her as she was meant to be seen? Beautiful, intangible, resplendent, a world meant for love.

And in that moment, I realized how much I have changed.

A younger Samuel would have felt such beauty wasted on his solitary vista, feeling pity in the fact that something so lovely, so romantic, could not be shared with someone that moment. I realized it is not at all like me to feel something so pathetic and mellow-dramatic; I love my life too much to feel such wasteful things.

The universe opened herself up to me, so that I can see her as she was meant to be seen, not to mar her image by longing for something that does not exist. Tonight, when the moon was full, the skies were clear, I saw her beauty and her splendor, could almost feel love and the intangible. It was something that, this time, wasn’t meant to be shared, but was meant only for me.

And perhaps, it was shared. Perhaps, somewhere in this world, someone else saw it, too; maybe a couple in love, maybe another poet or romantic, maybe even someone I am meant to find. But whoever may have seen it, if they did see it, then even though we’ve never met, and maybe never will, if they saw it, then it was a vision we all shared. My heart goes with theirs, in hopes that such beauty will not be overlooked and that those like my young self will learn to look past their selfishness, that they can see beauty for beauty’s sake, love for loves sake, and appreciate the world that was made for just that purpose.

-S.T. Grey