© 2011 RC deWinter ~ All Rights Reserved

I wear no man’s ring,
Not one has sworn his fealty to me
Nor offered more than casual concern,
Nothing beyond the offhand written word.

I wear no man’s ring.
A universe abounds within my soul
But having no manifest destiny
Is doomed to turn and feed upon on itself.

I wear no man’s ring.
No voice greets my arising to the day
Nor folds itself, soft, round my tired mind
As down in gray sleep I surrender.

I wear no man’s ring.
The freedom found is lonely company
For one who yearns to clasp another close
And thus entwined be freer than alone.

I wear no man’s ring.
A plainsong chant accompanies my days
As, wrapped in my indifferent cloak of form
I silently negotiate the hours.

I wear no man’s ring.
The calendar bears naught but emptiness
The days slip down so tasteless on the tongue
That cries for salt and savor, spice and sweet.

I wear no man’s ring.
A silver circlet crownèd with a pearl
Adorns my finger, solitarily,
Its satin surface mirroring the void.

I wear no man’s ring.

© 2011 Regina Coeli deWinter

Self-portrait in digital oils; taken from an
original photograph shot September 5,
2011, at the Haddam Neck (Connecticut) Fair.

Tech specs: Photoshop, Filter Forge, Filters Unlimited, Xero, VP5