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Anne, they called me
But I made up for the plainness of my name
with other things.
See my ruffled sleeves
the flowers I hold
The bright color of my lips, my cheeks, my eyes
and of course my jewelry.
Mama’s jewels, she gave them to me
and it wasn’t easy either. Don’t think
that because you are equal
I was. But never mind that now. See,
here’s my pretty fly.
I like to turn it over and over in my hands
See it flash: purple, green, maroon, turquoise
Oftimes I wore it in my hair
and oft I merely held it in my hand.
Then here’s a scent bottle
Pull it out and touch the stopper to your wrist
Does the scent still cling? Can you catch a whiff?
I always kept it smelling purple
to match the rubies enlaced with gold on it.
Do I sound silly? Well, never mind then
go on to this-
ah, this-
This was John’s, this was my husband’s
I never kept knickknacks in those little drawers
It was too fancy for me, too big, bejeweled,
the gilded base four feet wide
Those flowers you see on the cabinet
Those are inlaid rubies, sapphires
the ebony setting them off
Move away. It’s too big
Too overwhelming. Oh-
my little horse. I thought it was lost-
Excuse me, it is a very precious thing
see the four pearls dangling
the gold chain, and hooves, and mane
I never knew how the goldsmith could hammer that small
see the rubies, diamonds, emeralds
inset on the saddle
But-
Where is the cupid?
there is the spike he should sit on
there is his saddle- oh-
I am sorry
I wore this on my wedding day
the first time I had an idea of how full of beauty my life would be
the day I met John
the day-
Oh, the start of so many things.
Mama told me
She said Anne, Cupid tells me
You will have a good life
and she gave me that
my Cupid
my prince on a bejeweled horse, riding into the dawn
riding for ever after
Well, it’s been three hundred years
I fell off my horse a while ago
I suppose Cupid has as much right to do so as I
So I will subside back into my painting now
and leave you- but stop, one thing.
When I was small, I had a locket
just plain gold, nothing fancy
and on the inside was engraved
Remember me when I am gone.
I like that.
