He smiled on Anna across in room, in sit and rest beside lampstand in thread of needle’s eye; her wetting of the stand, fine ended for thread and draw and set for sew and mend of broken button back to blouse’s front.
She loved the blouse, five petaled button sign. So did he: its cut, its wear, its adorn of her body’s frame—in seasons before, in season’s change, on her, he loved it all the same. And so he gazed in meek admire as she worked quiet in the mend; press of the needle into tender of thumb absent thimble-guard.
Such was a lesson, relearning of old way, when life and world and things we valued were not disposable—dismissed and thrown away. One held to what one loved, repaired what was broken, torn, and needed mend. One did not discard at wear and go in searching of a new.
Anna held to the history, relearning again lessons from such’s live.
There was value in it still: in resilience, in repair, in retaining what was good—and loved—and not discarding when worn and weared and broken in by use and act of living in.
She mended the button, its five-petal face canted slightly—imperfectly—in mend; but there was a beauty in that too: sign of not being new but loved and desired still.
Like she and lessons learned in practice then, he held, too, to history and ideals: in the same of romance, in the same of love—not giving up—when lived and learned and no longer knew; in choosing to see the beauty still and repairing what needed mend.
She was lovely in the light—soft yellow cast of lamp at side in dark of evening setting room; high rafters of the room above, burled wood of the framing walls—imperfections defining of a beauty. He thought of her in blouse again—five petaled flower worn buttoned or free—worn as she in presence then or again as on summer day, kissed and pinned to cement wall in frame of city street; high of her boots, flash of skin—high thigh’s show in space between; her spirit of kiss, scent of skin, taste of lips and tongue; known, loved, desired still—even after live and wear and know.
She saw it in his eyes. Skin blush and evade of seeing smile sign-signaled her reply.