Eva Colombo, Means of escape, third chapter: Marguerite ( inspired by Fernand Khnopff’s drawing The mask with a black curtain )
 
You appear between the black curtain’s edges like the moon through the clouds after a rainy day. Your beauty is the beauty of a woman who is sure of being stronger than pain, the beauty of a soul who is sure of being stronger than death. You appear between the black curtain’s edges like a pearl between the valves of her shell. You bear in your eyes the glory of the sea at moon’s rise, in your hair the glory of the sand at sunset. You appear between the black curtain’s edges and if you don’t see in front of you anything in harmony with your beauty, anybody who were brave enough to welcome your glory … you come back behind the black curtain, behind the clouds, behind the valves of your shell. And even if no one sees you, you still have the sea in your eyes and the smile of anyone who knows that darkness is pregnant with light.