VI. YOUR MEMORY I remember you as you were in our first embrace. You were the golden hair and the unyielding look. You were the tall girl come into my arms who laughed a nervous laugh and desired to avenge her sorrow. You could not rest in my arms until we were naked; then you began to flow like a slow river. With every kiss I gave you you moved deeper inside your body and closer to me. Above me, you were the sky I could suddenly kiss; beneath me, you were the sensual earth. I pressed my body to the depth of your bones, fell headlong into the depths of your fiery eyes. The quietness of pleasure. Goldenness. Your memory is made of mirrored light, of mist, of an almost-sleeping river. When you smiled up at me the flawed world shattered, sorrow was avenged, and we both had spring and summer in our hearts.