When It Was

Amidst the lily-scented toilet sprays
Your flesh was dawning seashore,
Still of dusky thighs.

We were half-naked floorboards,
Hand-woven woolen rugs, down to rags,
Worn down by shoes for centuries;
We were oaken as the desk & pillowed
As the bed, & fell asleep to the Iliad;
The first time we loved you bled; it seemed
We’d done this all before, in another life
Than we’d lived, now we’ve grown
Apart & that was long ago. Once hurt in love
We haunt each other’s dreams in gowns,
And grow like weeds in dew, or wading birds
In delta fens. We’re painters now, who will
Not paint the water blue, but leave it blank