No Pablo Neruda
Essays on life, work and literatureArchive for a girl on a train
Beautiful Girl
She doubts the flow of love
will ebb her way,
she looks away when cautious glances
meet her gaze,
and soothes herself
with praise
for Godliness and virtue.
She searches books
and music with a
doting fervour,
refusing to allow
her awkward look
and girlish gait to
unnerve her.
Those soft, brown eyes
like limpid pools
within her face,
and sloping brow
that comes natural
to her race,
are not adept
at beauty, nor
of beauty
inspiring,
there will be for her
no careful hand
or loving look,
admiring.
She is tender in her
wants and needs,
secreting them in places
where they cannot
adduce shame
from other, well-made
faces.
She buttons up her
soft white vest,
she slips on her
white sandals,
she says her prayers
with catching breaths
that lick the
light from candles.
She is barely
touched upon this world,
this half formed woman,
malformed girl,
and yet the heart
within her breast
protests and yearns
for love as well.
