She gazes
Mesmerized as unseen fetters tear away, falling deep into black nightmares
Slicing pallid flesh, ashen scars left as ghostly reminders of unspoken pain

Does she remember?
So gradually were they forged and tightened, so slowly they clasped unyielding hands around her very soul
One by one they loosen cold fingers, reluctantly retreating to haunt another

She stands
Bare before a dazzled world whose vast depths beckon to be explored by unmasked eyes
And as if for the first time she breathes, her naked lips opening to life’s sweet scent

MW – 2/20/19