A tall girl of fourteen,
short dark hair
in red short shorts
and light white blouse
pulled down off
a smooth tanned shoulder,
strode barefoot
on a sidewalk across the street,
smiled and waved at a little boy
watching her from the banister
of his front porch
I look for her in the smile
of every woman I meet
Her name was Marianne
but that wouldn’t do
so I called her Venus
after a song playing
on the radio through
the living room curtains
and she vanished into myth