Simon Armitage
Simon Armitage
Youre beautiful because you stop to read the cards in newsagents windows about lost cats and missing dogs. Im ugly because of what 1 did to that jellyfish with a lolly-stick and a big stone
Youre beautiful because for you, politeness is instinctive, not a marketing campaign Im ugly because desperation is impossible to hide. Ugly like he is, Beautiful like hers, Beautiful like Venus, Ugly like his, Beautiful like she is, Ugly like Mars. Youre beautiful because you believe in coincidence and the power of thought. Im ugly because I proved God to be a mathematical impossibility
Youre beautiful because you prefer home-made soup to the packet stuff. Im ugly because once, at a dinner party, I defended the aristocracy and wasnt even drunk.
Youre beautiful because you cant work the remote control. Im ugly because of satellite television and twenty-four hour rolling news. Ugly like he is, Beautiful like hers, Beautiful like Venus, Ugly like his, Beautiful like she is, Ugly like Mars. Youre beautiful because you cry at weddings as well as funerals. Im ugly because I think of children as another species from a different world.
Youre beautiful because you look great in any color including red. Im ugly because I think shopping is strictly for the acquisition of material goods.
Youre beautiful because when you were born, undiscovered planets lined up to peep over the rim of your cradle and lay gifts of gravity and light at your miniature feet. Im ugly for saying love at first sight is another form of mistaken identity and that the most human of all responses is to gloat. Ugly like he is, Beautiful like hers, Beautiful like Venus, Ugly like his, Beautiful like she is, Ugly like Mars.
Youre beautiful because youve never seen the inside of a car-wash, Im ugly because I always ask for a receipt.
Youre beautiful for sending a box of shoes to the third world. Im ugly because I remember the telephone numbers of ex-girlfriends and the year Schubert was born.
Youre beautiful because you sponsored a parrot in a zoo. Im ugly because when I sigh its like the slow collapse of a circus tent. Ugly like he is, Beautiful like hers, Beautiful like Venus, Ugly like his, Beautiful like she is, Ugly like Mars. Youre beautiful because you can point at a man in a uniform and laugh. Im ugly because I was a police informer in a previous life.
Youre beautiful because you drink a liter of water and eat three pieces of fruit a day. Im ugly for taking the line that a meal without meat is a beautiful woman with one eye.
Youre beautiful because you dont see love as a competition and you know how to lose. Im ugly because I kissed the FA Cup then held it up to the crowd.
Youre beautiful because of a single buttercup in the top buttonhole of your cardigan. Im ugly because I said the Worlds Strongest Woman was a muscleman in a dress.
Youre beautiful because you couldnt live in a lighthouse. Im ugly for making hand-shadows in front of the giant bulb, so when they look up, the captains of vessels in distress see the ears of a rabbit, or the eye of a fox, or the legs of a galloping black horse. Ugly like he is, Beautiful like hers, Beautiful like Venus, Ugly like his, Beautiful like she is, Ugly like Mars. Ugly like he is, Beautiful like hers, Beautiful like Venus, Ugly like his, Beautiful like she is, Ugly like Mars.