taking measure

I hear
third hand about the younger
sister
paying a visit
to a stranger in a strange
land.
her father, at ninety
is confused
by the sudden drop in,
the ring of the bell
and her face
at his door.
where was she the other
forty years?
not a single call or card.
she stays an hour, having
taken her measurements,
having sniffed
what lies
within, what might glitter,
or be gold,
what might
be hers one day,
when it ends.