K.R.Prior
×
Variation on a theme of Baudelaire
The artifacts around her all combine
To set her off from nature’s artlessness:
Her fripperies, her ornaments, her dress
Add their bewitching lustre to her own:
So gilt and gold and jewels, steel and stone
All interweave to frame her loveliness,
All offer her a sheen and a caress,
And shed their light to let her beauty shine.
You ask yourself at times, is everything
On earth in love with her?  her nakedness
She steeps in silk and satin’s eager kiss,
In tactile delectation: round her face
Dumb nature’s tableau modulates to song:
The airs enhance her body’s fluid grace.