The Pearls

The Pearls

(Young Woman with a Pearl Necklace- Jan Vermeer van Delft)

Alex Smith

Francie Framain short, stout and plain

Sat in her bedroom looking out at the rain

The day was quite bitter, really quite crumby

Oh how Francie longed for it to be sunny

Though there were many chores Francie still needed to complete

She sat in her bedroom looking out at the street

The raindrops fell onto to the wet, pavement

Then something caught her eye and to it she went

On the corner of her dresser ever so messy

She found a extravagant necklace of white shiny pearls that were ever so dressy

Francie had forgotten where they came from or how they'd gotten there she could not remember

Perhaps she had worn them before, maybe last December?

Taking a breath in as if holding a secret

With a soft smile she clipped it together around her neck and wondered, could she keep it?

Francie turned around and gazed into the small mirror

She wiped off the dust so that she could see clearer

Francie tied up her hair into a tight bun

As she slid lipstick across her lips out danced the sun

She slipped into her heels and into her coat

She twirled the white pearls held loosely around her throat

Francie opened the shutters and the light streamed in

Onto the carpet, in through the house, and onto her skin

Her happiness was bountiful, something she could not contain

For Francie Framain's beauty had stopped the rain