Final Draft (and click picture for big)
Tempus Fugit
For “Karyatid,” 2005, by Katherine Sullivan
Standing there
aloof in classical pose-
right arm behind head,
a thoughtful downward gaze-
but she is not divine;
her beauty is not angelic
unblemished marble
or the smooth Olympian thighs of
Aphrodite.
She has beauty in the blemishes,
mottled flesh on her hips,
hint of wrinkles yet to come
on a subtly curving waist.
Her beauty is in her calm;
her still, silent, sensual dance.
Cool concentration despite the fire
surrounding her-
awash in flames that do not burn but
unravel,
dismantle, and consume
the gently curving breast,
blemishing the flesh as it moves
along the soft firmness,
caressing her destruction.