Let's turn this into an
Everything Poll :
what was your favorite Sheena moment?I can't remember where we were headed, after we had picked Sheena up. It was a Friday night, Prom Night, I think, which I wasn't attending. For untold aeons (to me, anyways... time is subjective) I had told myself that I ain't gonna go the the prom, nuh-uh, no way, Jose. And I found myself that night sitting in the back seat of a Sentra, sitting next to the girl that I had (have?) an entirely unhealthy crush on, hearing a tape loop in my head as I looked the other way : "You should have asked her to the prom. You should have asked her to the prom. It woulda been your only chance, you know. You should have asked her to the prom." and on & on.
It was dark in the car, full moon not making a dent in the darkness; maybe my eyes just hadn't adjusted yet. With Sheena right next to me, I was bugging out a bit; I needed needed needed to look at her, just one look is all, but I couldn't let myself get caught staring - she was unaware of the crush and by gum, she wasn't ever gonna find out. I had to look, though. I had to look. I (breath caught in throat) tried to sneak a peek at her, who had been complaining of a headache all day and who probably just wanted to be left alone at that point.
I tried to make it a quick glance, just a few milliseconds, but I think it lasted hours.
Her head was tilted back,
hair spilling short onto the headrest,
a dark, glittering Niagara on upholstered rocks,
and the full moon, barely visible overhead through the window,
illuminated, no, illustrated the outline of her face,
six blue-white brushstrokes, elegant,
the gentle curve of her forehead
and her nose
and her lips
and her neck, my god, her neck,
and I wasn't looking at Sheena,
I was seeing a marbled statue, Aphrodite,
only smooth, carefully polished stone could be this perfect,
perfect,
and then I remembered myself.
I resumed my activities looking out the window. All I remember is the drone of road-noise, a perfect match for the sudden wash of static in my head. Too many emotions : elated, ashamed, somewhat horny, but mostly depressed. The tape loop again, faster. I'd missed my chance. I'd missed my chance. I'd missed my chance. I'd missed god, will I please just shut up?
Lots of things happened that night, many things I still haven't forgotten, but this memory is still fresh, still new, it happened somewhere outside of the normal flow of time, it was timeless.
I've tried to reproduce the image, as an exercise in brush control; black canvas, blue-white paint. It's impossible.