VII. THE AFTERNOONS When I meet the afternoons sad like this your memory banishes sorrow. You are the brightness I bathed in when darkness consumed my soul. When I was lost, and could not find my way, you were the sudden star that guided me. You are naked on the altar of my finest dreams, you are naked in my memory, the feel of you embedded in my fingertips. When I meet the afternoons sad like this just a glimmer of what we shared restores me to life. When night comes at last I will fall into the compelling darkness of your eyes. I will look up at the dark sky and see you there, for you are the night sky itself, covering me with a blanket of starlight.