24 mins 38 secs

prose poetry

A glimmer of light shone from the gilded Rococo

 mirror, hanging above the matching gold, table-

 -top candelabra. Standing beneath, the exclusive,

Toulouse, antique chandelier, trailing her bony

fingers through a lacquered box of  necklaces, on the

sandstone marble mantle piece;  the woman tried

to overcome her dreaded fear;  should this, precious

low hanging, chandelier,  fall and break. A costly,

£1345.00, would be at stake ; the crux of  heartache.

She brushed passed the luxury opaque curtains, to

muse over the braided, oyster silk napkins, beside the   

plush, Regency porcelain, then, carefully inspecting

 the glassware; of Bohemian, crystal lattice,  before

 pursuing the Silverware; each, a high-steel graded,

 Chester, patterned piece. Until,  she slumped down

 on to the olive carved, upholstered, chase, lounge-

 -seat, to rest her aching feet. The quality Oriental rug,  

 beneath, was smooth and velvety,  patterned with

 lines of  opulent white and pink lilies, against a mass

 of sea blue. It had a distinctive waft of  ‘brand new’.

 She finally stood up, to swiftly leave the auspicious

 antique shop, only half nodding to the haughty,

non-receptive, staff, trying to conceal, the fact that

she was just,  passing the time, living on benefits, and

suffering with chronic hepatitis. Comprehend, she

did never, the thought of owning such a calibre of 

furniture, when she could  barely afford to have her

her hair cut and by now she was in quite a rush,               

ready to catch home her bus, carrying only, a plastic

dishevelled, ‘BASEMENT BARGAINS’ carrier bag

back to her rather more modest, council flat............

Author's Note

feedback would be welcome

Reviews

[lee von cleef]

Knowledge will set you free, the world putty, the have, the have not, are all equal when you have the advantage of perspective,but for the grace of God, Yes we are all sinners....eating drinking someone else' s grapes. The stride in those steps show,and tell...

[SHEEMA HUQ]

Thanks kindly for dropping by and reviewing
I think that I was attempting to gather interpretations about how this woman was perceived by the reader.......as a nuisance, a divisive personality? Or with somewhat more humility; as simply, as one who is was unaware of their own presence, I would presume that people do these things all the time, a scenario very much based in realism, see you soon Lee

[Shesentangels]

I can picture this woman perfectly, good word choice and descriptions

[SHEEMA HUQ]

Hello Shesentangles, good to meet you,

Thank you so much for sparing the time to review, means a lot to me!

[Pax]

amazing, how your words runs like the wind ~ how you conveyed in words this amazing piece of shining thing is brilliant!

[SHEEMA HUQ]

Thank you for such praise dear Pax, I am truly honoured :) ;)

[MOON]

Lovely writing contrasting circumstance.

[SHEEMA HUQ]

Glad you liked, thanks kindly

[DIVYA]

I loved the beautiful detailing in all it's richness and the twist in the tale too. Made for a very interesting and great read. The contrasts were excellently drawn. My hearty compliments on this write.

[SHEEMA HUQ]

Hey Divya, your compliments are much appreciated, thank you :)

[Sami Khalil]

We all have to grand wishes or desires to own expensive thing , if not now then we dream about it till we can afford it one day. This lady a great example of that and that staff were mean for they thought she could not afford it ... I felt sorry for her but sometimes we all get those kind of treatments...A very good write...:)

[SHEEMA HUQ]

Very interesting to hear your thoughts, indeed, those your are driven by image and a highly stylised culture would wish certainly to invest, in the high end of this world, though I think that there are many ways of leading to a fulfilling life, beyond antiques. As you pointed out, this is a personal-subjective, endevour, nice to hear from you and thanks for your review Sami

[SHEEMA HUQ]

...meaning, those 'who are' !

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome...Any time...:)

[Emily B]

brilliant, i was so jealous of the plush surroundings, i enjoyed this very much

[SHEEMA HUQ]

Thank you Emily

[John Alexander McFadyen]

A really descriptive and deceptive and engaging piece of writing Sheema. Really detailed and had me hooked. For such a lovely short piece I might have shortened the insight into the girls real position just to maximise the impact. Lovely never-the-less!

[SHEEMA HUQ]

Thank you for your review John