The Crystal Vase

Sixteen silver coins shined in a crystal vase.  
Each had been dropped by her mother  
noisily against the glass as part of her  
birthday celebrations.  
 
She giggled at the sound of the silver  
striking the glass.  Her mother always  
smiled and kissed her on the cheek.  
 
The clear vase never moved from the
center of the mantle over the hearth where  
she and her mother sat each winter for warmth.  
 
Tonight she sat with a boy who'd been her friend  
for as long as she could remember. The fire crackled  
softly as they kissed. When the boy moved with  
frantic haste, she forgot who he had been to her.
In a few moments of determined effort  
and her soft surrender,  
he became her lover.
 
As she whimpered with pleasure,  
she wondered if their friendship  
would survive this night.
 
All was silent but for the crackle  
of the fire and their soft hums as  
lips met dizzily again and again.  
A log shifted in the fireplace and  
shadows of warmth settled over  
their nakedness.
 
When she heard his soft moans,  
she closed her eyes as the crystal vase
from the year of her birth shatter, spilling  
her silver coins across the floor.