-the study of a young woman-

in this study

an arm appears before me,

sleeveless and caucasian with

wisps of nearly invisible

blonde hairs lying

comfortably across it

as if the arm was newborn,
swaddled in filament.

let’s follow this arm
upward from the wrist,
passing the interior fold at the elbow,

then to the slow-
turn of the shoulder,
dotted in freckles barely visible,

to the elegant neck
and delicate line of the jaw.

the cheeks at the face

fill-in nicely, the mouth indicating

a full set of teeth where above it

the cheekbones rest blanketed

by a radiant skin, high and angular

at the zygomatics.

above them,
the eyes continue

as translucent green,

like salt marshes near the ocean

and it's here, that the air
begins to circulate.

I try to speak.

she tells me to continue downward.

I try to speak.
she tells me to continue downward.