inspired by Vermeer's "girl with a pearl earring"

Xandra Button

Freezing breath hovers

Over-crowded sidewalks

In the dead of night.

Shops light up

Before the countdown

Of the clock.

A new year hands over

The same tired smiles

Echoing off the pavement.

My heart remains

A hollow ricochet.

Then I see her.

The smell of her coffee covers

The gray of the ice.

Her coat collar

Reflects one last white patch

Of glittering snow.

The sky is black

And I’ve never seen

Such a person –

A girl absorbing

The light of street lamps.

Her head slowly turns

As steady hands

Push a head-wrap back.

Piercing eyes glance my way.

She’s frozen.

I’m frozen.

An earring bobs in the moonlight.