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I wanted to read a poem called,
"Snow on the Skylight All

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Afternoon," which is the
voice of a sculpture model.

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So, if one of the
choices is to be

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translucent and stained,
like stained glass,

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I thought, well,
maybe instead, marble.

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But then, the sculpture
of the model in the class

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is not really marble.

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So these are what
she's thinking about.

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And there's snow mounded on
the skylight all afternoon.

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So, you know, it's a cold place.

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And there are little verbal
diction cues that tell you

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it was a while ago, too.

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So these are her thoughts.

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"Weight as marble.

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That's how I picture,
see, and feel myself.

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It helps me to
keep from jiggling.

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Mirror's useful.

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Looking in there, I
say, ah, sculpture.

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She's lovely.

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Students crowded all
round my platform.

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Seldom look at them.

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Just Ardenson, so
I've heard him called.

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I'd say he's talented.

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Other than that,
none of them seems

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to grasp the point of art,
not that I know what that is.

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I notice everyone's
hands, especially his.

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They're slender.

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Ring finger's on the long side.

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Graceful, erotic.

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Doesn't watch his
piece as he shapes it.

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Keeps his gaze on me.

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I mean, on the model.

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Lets both hands, and eyes
too, move of their own accord,

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true sign of an artist.

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When he does that, does he
imagine touching real girls?

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Even me?

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Or, uh, when he strokes
inside her thigh-- oh god,

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I just moved my knee
at least half a foot,

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which irritated him.

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But it's hard not moving, harder
than I thought it would be.

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I'm pretty good at this.

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I do understand he needs
me perfectly still.

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He's trying to get me beautiful.

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How would I like to try it?

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Like sculpting, I mean, myself?

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Trouble is, there's only
one other girl here.

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Britta or Briget,
something like that.

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She's not at all my type.

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Not friendly.

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Not to me, that is.

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Downright brassy toward them,
even sasses the teachers.

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Bobs her hair.

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Well, in my opinion, no
girl doesn't look better

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with long hair.

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You couldn't pay me.

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I doubt they'd let
me in, but still, I

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have about half a mind
to ask in the office.

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Plaster casts, down
there in the basement.

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Other evening, slipped
down there for a peek.

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I even touched a torso, male.

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Now, why don't these
young men learn

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to make me smooth as that?

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I thought it would feel
like talcum powder feels

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when smooth on my body.

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No, felt much, well, harder.

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Cool, almost slick, I'd say.

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Of course, Plaster of
Paris isn't like wet clay.

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I expect I'd hate the muck of
actually being a sculptress.

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But, after all, it washes off.

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But I see that-- who's it?

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Norwegian-sounding, Birta,
I think it might be.

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Watch her work.

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She'll pause and squint at
her figure, run her hands,

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wet clay and all,
back through her hair,

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fingers spread out like men do.

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Then it dries.

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The clay gets all
pale and stiff.

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It stiffens something
fierce in that short hair.

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I think, scarecrow.

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She even patches her old coat.

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Well, Ardenson never looks
her way that I've ever seen.

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Hmm.

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Start of halfway break,
he picks up my wrap,

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his shyness showing.

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Drapes it over my
shoulders, nods his head

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as if saying words.

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Hmm.

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Think I'm due for a new kimono.

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Paisley, maybe.

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Purples and blues.

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It's cold in here today.

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Last pose of the
class, thank goodness.

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What do I want for supper?

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Eggs, toast, cocoa.

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Yesterday evening, went
along the causeway,

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then past the lion.

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Caught a glimpse of
Ardenson through the window,

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draining his glass
of wine, red wine.

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And just as the rim of
wine glass left his lips,

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he happened to see me.

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Looked straight at me.

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His eyes so liquid, a
glance, maybe three seconds.

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It froze though."

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