？Ode to a Dressmakers Dummy

　　 by Donald Justice

　　 Papier-mache body； blue-and-black cotton jersey cover.

　　 Metal stand. Instructions included.

　　 Sears， Roebuck Catalogue

　　 O my coy darling， still

　　 You wear for me the scent

　　 Of those long afternoons we spent，

　　 The two of us together，

　　 Safe in the attic from the jealous eyes

　　 Of household spies

　　 And the remote buffooneries of the weather；

　　 So high，

　　 Our sole remaining neighbor was the sky，

　　 Which， often enough， at dusk，

　　 Leaning its cloudy shoulders on the sill，

　　 Used to regard us with a bored and cynical eye.

　　 How like the terrified，

　　 Shy figure of a bride

　　 You stood there then， without your clothes，

　　 Drawn up into

　　 So classic and so strict a pose

　　 Almost， it seemed， our little attic grew

　　 Dark with the first charmed night of the honeymoon.

　　 Or was it only some obscure

　　 Shape of my mother's youth I saw in you，

　　 There where the rude shadows of the afternoon

　　 Crept up your ankles and you stood

　　 Hiding your sex as best you could？

　　 Prim ghost the evening light shone through.