Marie Josephine

What are you sketching, Marie Josephine?
Violets and poppies, a pastoral scene?
The things that surround you are modest and fetching
But maybe so different from what you are sketching.

What are you hiding, Marie Josephine?
Secrets are sacred to girls of sixteen.
The world as you know it is slipping and sliding
But no one can tell there is something you’re hiding.

What are you fearing, Marie Josephine?
The window that’s broken, the sun that’s unseen?
The things that they tell you are sweet and endearing,
Disguising the colourless future you’re fearing.

Waltzing in ballrooms and walking in gardens,
Bonnets with ribbons, respectable garments.
Your world is a still life, pastel and serene.
What are you missing, Marie Josephine?
What are you sketching? What are you hiding?
Something astonishing, deep and abiding,
Something unbroken, untamed and pristine.
Whisper it,
Wish for it,
Sketch it, Marie Josephine.

Marie Denise Villers, Marie Josephine Charlotte du Val d'Ognes (1786–1868), 1801