LATE NIGHT ON CAMPUS

I was walking across campus late one night, past the back of the art studio building, taking a short cut, when I looked up and noticed one of the lights still on. There was a girl in the window, probably a senior studio major, takign a break from a long night of art making, having a smoke. I might have just glanced up and not thought twice about it, but there was just enough light coming from her studio to reveal that she wasn't wearing any clothes. I stopped and wondered what she was doing in her studio. Was the bright light for photography? Was she making a series of nude self-portraits (not that uncommon for college photography majors), or was she painting nude?

I stood in the darkness of the alley, long enough to watch her finish the smoke. She slipped off the window ledge, and I could no longer see her, so I left. But the image has stayed with me.