a chrysalis
that was the best
descriptioncomparison he could make for her gown diaphanous sequinedbut not
fit
like snakeskin
they walked together
they talked
though they didnt
speak
when she decided they stopped
she wanted to sit and relax
she removed her gown
she turnedmusically counterclockwise
an it relentedopened like flower petals at her ankles loosening as she turned it rose up over
her knees her hips waistshe put her arms above her head it rose over her breasts her shoulders throat passed her face flowedup over the top of her headher tawny hair moving under it like rising smoke caught in a gentle vortex it
went to her elbows an wrappedwound her wrists binding her
then stopped
bringing her arms downbending
her elbows she whipped the gown several
times clockwise before she freed her hands
she was naked
her skin pale pearlescentgreen beautifully set off her brilliant sharpgreen eyes
she wasnt shy or modest or embarrassed like a child
breathtaking
working the gown into one hand she
snapped it
he thought its fireflies its mesmerising facets would scatter they did not
then she sat on
her right hip in the long grass her legs togetherbroke at the knees
he sat beside her
as she went to sit she halved the
gown laid it across her thighs against her belly soft fires flickered in it kisses from the sun
she was as extraordinary as he
was common
they conversed until the sun
began to fall the sky hazingturning goldenamber
he had no memory of words spoken
I
must go she began to standhe cautioned her stood quickly offered his hand
she accepted it
he helped her up
he knewunderstood to step back
an as he did she unfoldedunfurled her
gown snapped it like bullwhip an then with it around her wrists she
flung her arms above her head an turned clockwise
the gown hung momentarily above
her head a calla lily
then in reverse of earlier it descended her bodycloaking
her when she ceased turning the gown held a life of its own a centripetal force it snugged her like snakeskin
they met two more times
in a glade lastly on a yellow dune broken with tall greengrass overlooking a palepink
watermelon sea
he couldnt help but notice her aureoles were its colour
when she left he suffered a fortunate amnesia it was until she was gone that he remembered
she said she wouldnt see him again because
had he remembered he would have begged her to stay
he would have begged on his
knees
there is a place inside his
head however he can go and hear herhear
her voice repeating their hours of conversation
sometimes behind it in an echo a soft reverberation she offered something other
he hung on every word
0817, Twosday,
8 6. 21
2334, Twosday, 8 6.
21
