Two Kinds of Beauty

One is free.
It belongs to everyone.
It endures across generations.
A mountain lake at sunrise, untouched, serene.
We can admire it, preserve it, leave it for our children.

The other is gilded.
It dazzles, it dominates, it imprisons.
A golden ballroom, designed for spectacle, not soul.
Built for ego, for self, for the fleeting thrill of power.
It asks nothing of its inheritors — only that they watch, amazed.

True beauty lasts.
False beauty fades — and the cost is always paid by others.