The Cerebral Catalyst

Twisted up in memories, the sheets no longer exist. Twenty years could have been
twenty minutes: it was always those light blue eyes that held him and almost
every man who saw her. Wow, you have something there, he was told.
A real doll, Nichole, with black gypsy hair and pale white skin, always such a
contrast: the raven black, the light blue and the pale white,
And quiet, her voice almost a whisper, with the twinkle in her eye,
A throaty little chuckle, deeper (a touch of the naughty).
Wasn't she daddy's girl from L.A. money? Used to getting her way with men at
eighteen,
a virgin bird to be admired. He took it all in every time he saw her: the
clothes, the jewelry, the berets and knit caps, the quiet smile;
She was aware of the attention — a playful dip or turn, a sudden reaching, a
glance back over the shoulder,
Yes, she was already playing the game.
He didn't know time when she played it.

It's always the eyes that call him back, and that contrast:
The raven hair, thick and lustrous, around the pale round face, apple red lips,
and blue eyes that finally held him.
She was playful, this Gypsy, with a light tinkle in her laugh, who let her mind
dart here and there, untamed, as yet, by school, by life.
When troubled thoughts passed like clouds, her blue eyes darkened, a passing
storm.

He tries to see her now: heavier, a touch of gray up top, a harder, sadder and
tired look of experience;
The bird's plumage has faded, no more fluttering here and there.
Yet perhaps the knowing warmth of motherhood, perhaps a healthy glow in those
white cheeks, a well-fed plumpness,
And still those pale blue eyes that, in the right moment, could bring it back in
a headlong rush.
______________________________________
Originally published in 3711 Atlantic. Reprinted with the author's permission.

posted 12.26.05.

Emergent Properties:

Main

F.A.Q.

About

Archives (alphabetical)
Archives (chronological)

Links - Updated 05.05.08

Books - Updated 05.05.08

Pandemic Poetry

Taglines

Site founded May 7th, 2003, by Project Catalyst.
All written material is the copyrighted property of its respective authors.
All other elements can be blamed on the Cerebral Catalyst Editorial Board.