There was a hum
white noise
of human whispers
something she could dismiss
but the sound sighed at her
and she knew it was something more
bigger than herself,
monstrously hushed
by the quick rotation of a fan
quieting, but rushing the voices
ever nearer

She clipped each earring on
and zipped the lace up
along her slender neck
feeling a vulnerability
of which there was no suspect
only her intuition, linked in
heart, mind and belly
yet she was of no resolution
to leave the room just yet

The rustle of her dress
an amplifier of this unknown terror
the voices, the humming
found refuge in her silk
intently, she listened
for now she was the holder
of unknown visitors
to the window she went
lifting it to invite the breeze
hoping desperately
they’d be carried away

Yet instead, the brisk wind
spoke even louder
and brought to life
the silk around her legs
creeping under the hem
pebbling the skin beneath
her pale nude stockings

It wouldn’t be long now
until the whirlwind of murmurs
covered her wedding dress
then the expectations
of her future nature
would become her own

She would need no gown
after the I do’s
the speaking dress
would crawl into her skin
only her mind would be spared
if she did this one thing
so before she went to meet her groom
she left her veil behind.