Two girls move through a rich, glamorous room, and the poem watches how carefully they behave. One is a blond, blue-eyed "wannabe model"; the other is tall, with kinky hair and cherry-wood eyes. Both have eyes that "flit to and fro," which suggests they are nervous and constantly checking who is looking. Both are "careful" to stay quiet and to blend into the background, as if being noticed would be risky.
The speaker's tone starts out observing from a distance, describing the girls as a "doll" and a "caricature," then gradually turns into something closer to confession. In the last stanza, the speaker says "that's what we are," placing herself among them. Calling them diamonds, "pretty little decorations" leaning on a tapestry, makes them sound like objects valued for how they look. The mood is uneasy and quietly sad: glitter on the surface, and underneath, a sense of being put on display with no say in it.