Surfaces

A single sheet of elongated truthful glass,
the cheval swung in dark wood suspense.
From her bed she could watch the garden path,
sometimes identify the footfalls between the grass.

A full-length narrow flash of teenage life:
a tumble jumbled comedy of cast-off shoes,
abandoned guitar, old writing slope, the history
books and dancing pumps, a scouting knife.

Friends preened on its catwalk vanity trap
adopted a pose for this or that, a future;
swapped clothes like boyfriends,
betrayed sworn secrets in idle chat.

Left at a tilt on occasion, the ceiling hung askew inside
the frame, a shift on the pillow and a world would pass.