by the sound of the waves

  in the darkened bay

 

The night is more immense

than I remember your eyes

  purple after you dived

 

We stayed on at the st george

long after everyone left

  it was a kind of bet

 

Long snakelike days glistening

on concrete by the pool

  no shadows at all

 

Above us lost worlds stretched

in plumes of fuel and smoke

  you became my ghost

 

The mountain still turned white

as far distant as a fable

  if I moved betrayal

 

The radio smelt of suntan oil

and echoed in dead air

  all we had was here

 

The blinded tower on the hill

held its horrors mute

  your kiss was a rebuke

After years you rose all wet

and mouthed a song

  then shrugged your jumper on

 

The people returned in maseratis

heaving oblivions of cash

  as if we’d lived for that

 

You let yourself be pulled away

pucci miniskirt baring your legs

  there was nothing to protect

 

I am that boat drugged

by the sound of the waves

  in the darkened bay

 

The night is more immense

than I remember your eyes

  purple after you dived