You saw me at full noon,
Leaving the stadium
Among the boys,
Clear-eyed, breathless, laurelled
A laugh rising from my lip.
You did not see me at midnight
Beside my lamp.
Eyes dissolved, brow crowned with sweat,
The sting of vomit in my nose,
My head, my gut the playing field.
I had never known you so white,
back arched over the pillow
like an ivory tusk.
Even now I cannot understand
the source of that light,
whether it was your own
or the reflection of another.
Whichever, my body still recalls
the soft moon-colour of your skin,
how it drew me over you,
like a summer tide.