No classical beauty is she
short dark hair and pale features
No mane of gold, no skin of coffee, brown
but still more than I can capture on canvas
constantly shifting her moods
with movements that are compelling
and eyes that burn through failed pages of text
leaving round holes-
as if I had forgotten a cigarette there
she is not definable
Perhaps she is like the island girl that Gauguin painted only the back of
because he could not do her face justice