Vase

I present myself to you

In the nude

A newborn, waiting to be molded

Chiseled by your genius

Caressed by the warm friction of your hands

As I spin

Dizzied by dancing colors

Your foot at my base

And your eyes my careful watcher

Movement slows

Just a scratch here

And a grand sweeping motion

Until you step back

Leaving me bare and cold

Your scrutinous eyes finally fulfilled

From devouring my flaws

You leave

Darkness falls upon me

Flames lick the sweat from my skin

Then drain the water from within

Until I’m ready to crack

The flame is my new master now

Controlling me, contorting me

Shrinking me into rock

Calloused

Unbreakable

Except for shattering crashes

Gravity my nemesis

With careless children as his minions

Running past me as I sit upon a table

Colors tickled onto my sides

Blanketing the blandness

Displaying pleasurable pastels

On my stone-cold skin

Picturesque in nature

Yet unnatural

Bent around my twisted spine

I present myself to you

Complete, yet hollow

A work of art

Empty and neglected

Too valuable to hold

Too valuable to touch

Too valuable, it seems, to even look at

Eyes gloss over me

A mere object in the background

Decoration for prestige

Yet I’m never held high

Never regarded as worthy

Just left to sit

Hardened by the heat of my past

Fading as each day passes

Graying as dust takes its hold

The sun melting the makeup off my body

Transforming me back into the blank slate that I once was