I bought some expensive candles
to make us feel rich

Nay to make us smell rich

Orange
blossom      Sandalwood

Kashmir vanilla

My mother says only poor people
use the word rich

What do rich people say

They use the word wealthy

I wanted to appear wealthy in an
understated refined way

Or to be effortless and clean as in
a catalogue spread

In which things are white cream
and uncluttered

As usual I craved the idea of a thing

As usual craving rather than doing

Rather than being a thing made
worthy or of note

Of course it’s just thin and feeble
to desire the clean subtle rich or

Wealthy fragrance of a very
expensive candle

I’ve had the house painted to look
like a clean subtle ocean

Waterscape green and toque
white

The house nods or floats as if in a
cask

It is a wooden floor

And a rich subtle scent o’er a pink
and green rug

I have arranged it so the

Chandelier dims to a dim warm
glow

My shallow or selfish impulse flits
throughout the house

I am a person shallow and weak
of character

And I have built a beautiful space
 
 
 

 
Emily Bludworth de Barrios‘s debut book of poems, Splendor, is available from H_NGM_N Books. She is also the author of the chapbook Extraordinary Power (Factory Hollow Press 2014). Recent work can be read in B O D Y, UCity Review, Jellyfish, Tender, and elsewhere. Find Emily online at emilybludworthdebarrios.tumblr.com.