What is beauty?
What do you think of, what pictures dash through your mind?
Do you think of sunsets, moonlight, rose petals drenched in watery dew drops?
Do you think in terms of nature imagery, or in terms of the physical?
A slim body, a voluptuous body, an attractive face?
Marilyn Monroe, your first crush, the girl next door?
Do you imagine a coquetish look, a look of mystery and promise?
And what about the loss of beauty?
Is our society obsessed with youth and perfection?
When you think of beauty, do you see yourself?
When you were young, middle-aged, or now in the pale of some final existence?
Following are some of my thoughts and meditations on these topics, modeled after Roland Barthes's "Fragments," along with artwork by Robert Mapplethorpe (and others), as well as words by poets, and words that speak of my own experience.