there being two types of personal beauty / that of youth / unearned / and that of age / earned / these two beauties sit facing each other on the spiral train lounge / age / defeated into great bearing / youth proud yet careless of its freshness / boy looks at man / looks at saddened eyes belying their composure / threatening look of interest suppressed / too great an interest / ol man canney look enough / and will if he wants look knowing he could never look enough at this beautiful youth / never sees understanding in the boy’s eyes / pride and freshness / fresh ignorance / time turn stale sour / who can call time the enemy of life / who cannot / adjacent seats / two others neither beautiful nor ugly / plain / plain boy scans beauty boy appreciative mix resentful / plain man as yet not having earned through age sufficient to call beauty / perhaps never / denied as yet / looks down rival head to toe same mixed feeling / plain man prefers beauties of youth / for all these reasons / beauty earned is the truly respectful expression of grief / great grief accepted / in any world is it otherwise