Suddenly I am alone

And suddenly the sky

Seems to cover me

Like a whale hovering

In the depths.

Suddenly I lose my composure

And curl up Like a child and cry:

The night is an ink

With which I describe my sadness.

Suddenly memories become vivid

And suddenly I am inside the stomach of old pain–

I struggle not to lose myself

In the acidity of first love.

Suddenly the infinity of life

Slips down the throat

Of one thought,

And suddenly my trembling body

Becomes as devoted to one purpose

As a razor or a piano.

My hand follows the jaw-line

Between blood and smoothness,

Music and noise,

And suddenly I exist

To honour an unimaginable memory:

The eternal love that has died

In the heart of its most fleeting possessor.

Written on Tuesday, September 30th, 2003