I walk upstairs where you are waiting.
\nClimbing the stairs from the dark underground, I feel the air getting warmer. Climbing the stairs through the dark tunnel, there is the whir of the fan, the pumped in music of the afternoon–voices flirting and ice settling and jukebox interpretations– coming to a shaky pause, suspended. I bow invisibly.<\/p>\n
The beginning.
\nSatin slippers with six inch heels. Rhinestones and bows. A painting on the canvas of features, a face. A pretty decoration for this package of parts. A beautiful, empty, package.
\nMemory combines with force to move my body through space.
\nTender, soft skin meeting the rugged terrain of red light and air, and stage.
\nThe rugged terrain of space. Of space. Of space.<\/p>\n
I offer you the present.
\nUnwrapping obscuration, pretense and decoration.
\nAll I have, this dance of becoming, this vibrating moment.
\nI offer you the present.
\nButtons leave buttonholes. Garments become formless.
\nI untie the bow, stepping out, revealed.
\nMy eyes sparkle with it. Sometimes I look right at you. I am scared. I am delighted. Sometimes I close my eyes. I close my eyes and make a gesture. The middle. The middle. The middle.<\/p>\n
Here, bare
\nI watch a stream of sweat running down my arm, to settle at my wrist.
\nThe moment stretches
\nI imagine
\nall the water in my body evaporating into steam, filling the room with fog.
\nI see this wrinkled canvas dry and brittle fall away, gathering in folds around turquoise satin and rhinestones,
\nfalling away to expose the fat of once-plentiful, juicy thighs and cheeky cheeks
\nfalling away to expose the dried-up length of muscles once straining under beauty and form
\nfalling away to expose steaming entrails and the precious heart now pumping dry
\nfalling away to expose these bones, these bones, these bones
\nbowing over, crumbing, falling away.<\/p>\n
What remains
\nof this priceless life
\nWhat remains of the smile we shared
\nthe care
\nthe love possible
\nthe hustle
\nthe flickering hope and despair
\nand cessation of all
\nWhat remains here, here, here <\/p>\n
The End<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I walk upstairs where you are waiting. Climbing the stairs from the dark underground, I feel the air getting warmer. Climbing the stairs through the dark tunnel, there is the whir of the fan, the pumped in music of the afternoon–voices flirting and ice settling and jukebox interpretations– coming to a shaky pause, suspended. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sterlingslyce.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sterlingslyce.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sterlingslyce.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sterlingslyce.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sterlingslyce.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.sterlingslyce.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84,"href":"http:\/\/www.sterlingslyce.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions\/84"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sterlingslyce.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sterlingslyce.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sterlingslyce.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}