You are still a child but already your limbs
almost wilfully dazzle
in the dawning
system of curves.
And, like a covert smile,
if not your hip, your shoulder
forgets you, and betrays you.
I see you from head to heel.

I look at you, till I can no longer bear it.
One move
and my life starts to slip softly
like a collapsing sand-pit.
You are still fragile - escape
before it reaches you!
Your head topples with a nod.
It was hit by the first blow.

The subsiding years
mine towards you, greedily.
Like starved sticks
the immense forest comes to life.
My nights! The shivering
horde of my nights!
They pounce on you bodily--
a morsel of bread.

The years snatch at your young wrist
they press your back
they are seeking the ecstacy they never
found with me.
The lost child,
blinding youth!
And they fling you away empty
like a gutted sack.

Is this what you are keeping for me ?
I watch you, detatched, numb.
Where is the shoulder that flared
the hint of splendour ?
My hands hover, bewildered,
in empty air.