- Girl on a Limoges Box
Her charcoal colored cap, adorned with pearls,
Is carefully positioned on her head,
Her form attired in damask, silk and gems,
Embroidered with a brilliant yellow thread.
Swirled brush-stroke clouds, so finely edged with gold
against the gleam of porcelain's morning sky,
those ribbons left behind by flighty spring,
now vie for the affection of July.
Through ancient garden gates she makes her way,
Where pale arbutus buds hang frail and small;
In all their modest brilliancy they bow
against Limoges Cathedral's aging wall.
In silent joy she gathers colored blooms,
Each upturned flower cut without a leaf;
She lays them gently in the quiet nave,
As declaration of her staunch belief.