The Girl in Pearls

Model: Anne Curtis

when the light touches your face
for a second it melts into your skin;
like molten gold
and the world takes in a collective breath
afraid to break the delicate china of your bones.
you hide behind a curtain of lashes
caged by the pearls at your wrist, draped in twists of silk
that you think are richer than your skin,
and I wonder what you see when you close your eyes,
freedom, fear, or maybe paradise.

you look like an elegant piece of time,
like a soft vision of something long ago, a romantic memory in a weathered novel,
or the inky cursive script of a love letter.
I want to weave these moments into a chain of memories
braid them like flowers into your hair
blend them into the blush of your cheeks before they slip
through my fingers; like feathers in the wind
before you get lost in all your finery and lace,
and blink.

you see, you are a beauty not meant to be forgotten
like a timeless song or the words in a classic
and within this musical, breathless chaos around us
you have forgotten that yourself.

©AnumAziz