Dangerous Neighbors

..."Look at the moon," she'd say, "shattered by snow."...

...She saw now how Anna's dreams were filled with marzipan and apricot kernels, how they were pierced by a boy whose eyes were sky-changeable  and cloud- swept...

...The clouds smoke across the sky and the seagulls keep their distance. A rocket hangs from a ribbon of black velvet at Katherine's neck...

...see those cinnamon'colored cameos: this diamond necklace; these perfect solitaires; these black, white, and pink pearls. She waits her turn before sapphire and ruby, before tiaras, before the peacock feather with the Brunswick diamond nestled within...

...Far away, in the effervescent sky winter sky, the moon has begun to ascend...


...a child, with corkscrew bangs and a plaid woolen dress who is holding a bright white bird in a cage shimmered with gold.
     Let the bird go, Katherine wants to say, but doesn't.
     There are women hiding from the sun beneath silk saucers of black parasols...