Things keep on happening in Vermeer.
Time passes as we watch.
The more we look, the more it’s clear
the next scene’s waiting to be played
just out of sight—the silver weighed,
the letter set aside, the milk poured out,
darkness descending onto Delft
as colors change
and girls in gold are taken by surprise
at the clavier, perhaps expecting
someone else, not us, to come into the room.