What lingers in my mind

More than anything

Is an ambiance

Of low light

& lace curtains,

Revealing a stray glimpse of the outside world;

The ink on her arm

Where I run my fingers;

A sense of connection,

Fleeting perhaps,

Yet forceful enough 

To ripple through memory

All these years later.

Originally published in Door Is a Jar.

Image: Venus Rising from the Sea by Titian (detail).