chagall backdrop

She breaks too easy
for a woman

at the softest touch,
the lightest stroke

despite the care I take
to assure that only
ambient moonlight
touches her skin
she burns

that only the quietest
of whispers
would funnel to her mind
through the kisses I’d rain
on her ears
she’d tense

inhale sharply
in pain

sometimes cry
facing the wall

I can carry her
if she’d let me
the way from here
to anywhere
in the manner
she’d ask

handle with care
with the right side up
savor and adore
all that’s left

she draws the curtains now
they blow wildly and wrap her
in spectral gauze

she, before the window
in wan starlight

pale
smiling
seemingly

unbroken

© Carlos Chagall, 2013