Diptych

Her figure
of immovable eyes
of constant age
a singular expression, still
an evocation, an allusion, an expose
revealing latitudes
discrepant, enraptured.
Uncovering a figure
on paper.

Her hands
the light on her nails
on the seams and stitches of the fabric
on the needle that goes, laboriously,
down and up, down and up.
She works in the market
a seamstress
right next to the beauty salon,
to the lady that sells fish,
and the couple that waits
around their display of sandals.
She smells like rambutan and mangoes
like leeks and hairspray
there is a little of all
in her.

All photos and texts by Valentina Vitols. Copyright, 2007. Siem Reap, Cambodia.