Poetry class #7

Allude [1]

She stood, a cameo
Surrounded by the perfect oval of her tall mirror,
Amid the scattered this and that
Tossed carelessly from the dress-up chest.
The gown was a pale, barely-still lavender
Scarred by careless coffee drips and after-date make-up smudges.
She didn't see them,
Didn't see the unmended rip at the hem from a misplaced heel.
With an unconscious tug at the sleeve
To pull it back up on her shoulder,
She focused with the practiced eyes of a Milan couturier
On the old lace tablecloth and the mismatched jumble of baubled barrettes
Used to transform her braids into a crown.
Stepping back, turning slowly -- this way, then that,
She surveyed the effect
As the light caught the facets in the diamonds of the tiara
That held her bridal veil in place.
She smiled
And she saw her,
Saw her clearly ... smiling back --

All but the few left down to dance upon her shoulders,
Her chocolate curls were swept up to make a crown.
The strapless bodice was gardened with gemstone flowers.
Her skirt swept down and swayed like a bell as she glided to the window,
Her gossamer veil floating down behind her to the floor.
The pink calla lilies of the bouquet mirrored the blush rising on her cheeks.
She gazed serenely out, as the photographer speckled the room with flashes of light.
She did not see the lights; she did not see the room.
She saw him, only him, waiting there on the grass below.
He was gazing out across the hills,
Seeing ever-after miraged in the sunset colored clouds.

Blinking she turned
And stepped carelessly across
The lumps of clothes and toys,
Back to the chest to don another reflection.


[1] al + lüdere  to play beside

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