she wouldn't say
whence she had come
nor stories of her past
as tho she'd only just arrived on earth
without a shadow to be cast
(her future mightn't then succomb
to ills of former day
of lesser worth.)

a mystery
or veiled at least
the nature of her heart
as secret as her yesterdays. her self
aloof, always a space apart
disclosures only half released;
the rest where none could see
upon a shelf.