Let us keep this day
among the hours, forever.
This darkened room,
Debussy and the rain,
you by my side, resting from love.
Thick, entranced smoke from my cigarette
drifting through your hair like a caressing hand.
Your back like a prairie in silence,
and your side an unmoving slope
from which my kisses try to rise, as though out of a dream..
The airless room hangs heavy with love, with fatigue,
with your virgin heart hating me and hating you.
All this discomfiture of sex gratified,
this convalescence during which our eyes, peering
through evening shadows
sought reconciliation.
Your stony-faced look, last mask
in which, despite yourself, you sought sanctuary,
in which you habituated your solitude.
The two of us, our souls renewed, wondering why.
And later your hand squeezing mine,
your head lightly resting on my chest,
and my fingers whispering who knows what to your neck.
Let us keep this day
forever among the hours.