Artist's Model

She woke to a room, Victorian.

High-ceilinged, bare, bone cold.

Black marble fireplace, pock-marked mirror.

Torn velvet curtains, smell of turps and tea.

She was lying on a mattress on the floor

A wrinkled sheet, a cushion at her head.

Mouth dry, she tried to swallow, longed for tea.

As she tried to remember,

Who had shared her bed.