Magpie Tales 33



The Other Woman

I stare into the mirror

at the dressing table.

Another woman looks

back—

a young woman

amazingly foreign

to the ordinary geography

of my world;

black dress, string of pearls,

she draws her inner wrists
to her face, fair in the silver tone
background—

gently the essence of rose
regal and voluminous
laced in lilac and vanilla
rises as she fills her chest.

How different
from the aroma
of tomato sauce
crowed out by basil,
garlic and pepperoni
amid the musty smell
of dishes from the morning
mingling in the sink with those
the night before—

2010© Michael A. Wells - all rights reserved

Magpie Tales 33