Costume Jewellery

From high in your tower,
     can you see everything?
Disappearing is easy
     when you are not a king.
See me, don’t see me,
I don’t care anymore.
This is my freedom:
My feet on the floor, walk away.

In the gallery glare,
     there you are on display,
A perfect illusion, in perfect disarray.
The walls they are mirrors;
     the walls they recede—
Out beyond your reflection
Will anyone heed what you say?

I may be nameless, if anyone asks—
I may be faceless, but I wear no masks.
I may be tarnished, but I am real.
Bright costume jewellery
     may have more appeal,
May shine for an hour,
     may shine for a day,
But the shining is false,
     and it will fade away.

If I asked for the truth,
You would paint me a sky
Where the shadows of seagulls
     on crimson glide by;
A sunset, on sands of eternal July—
Held aloft on the wings
     of a white butterfly.
You would speak not one word
     that isn’t a lie,
But impossible beauty,
      I would never deny.