(This amazing photo is not mine. I thank Lost In Pixels for allowing me to use the image.)
Beautiful Decay
her fingers
soft, delicate things
drift over a crumbling stair
caress aged boards
as if they could not spoil that touch forever
marring that beauty
with their coarse surface
that she loves
dearly
Written to answer two challenges this week. First, a response to Trifectra, which challenges us to write between 33 and 330 words, using the third definition of the word of the week, in this case “decay: 3: to fall into ruin“.
Second, this also answers the Sunday Scribblings prompt of ‘Strange Bedfellows’, combining age and beauty.
my words are alive 
Lovely. The phrase “drift over a crumbling stair” in particular stays with me.
It seems that she and the boards are almost a part of each other. Everything about it feels old. ‘Marring’ is one of my favourite words, so thank you for using it 😀
Soft delicate fingers and aged stairs. Lovely juxtaposition.
Lovely handling of the decayed.
Neat that the age is revered for it’s beauty here. I hope there is a metaphor in there. 🙂
I like “beautiful decay” – beautiful is not a word I normally associate with decay.
Beautiful.
I especially love your first two lines.
I agree with the comment above about how we don’t often view decay as ‘beautiful’, but here it absolutely fits perfectly. Thanks for linking up.