Let the body remember
a pair of peep-toed, high-
heeled shoes, delicate ankle
straps with a tiny gilt buckle,
fine Italian leather,
hand-sewn—
gold.
Though you are long-legged in these shoes,
your calves shapely,
your world is off-balance, thrown
into a realm where power
and vulnerability meet
where memories are made, forgotten
except by the body.
The body, you must know
by now, is the repository of all
bad decisions: just ask
the lungs, the heart, the skin,
the toes pinched
into permanent pain
by the tyranny of strappy high heels.
But let the body in repose also
remember breathless quick steps,
flashes of toes heels and soles
lace, silk
shirt slipping
off warm shoulders
hands hips bellies thighs
all caught in rhythmic muscle and bone.
Let the body remember only gold,
your glittering hour before midnight,
when you forgot
the clock,
forgot your balance,
ignored the tiny buckle
rubbing raw the ankle bone.
Let the body remember
a pair of peep-toed, high-
heeled shoes, delicate ankle
straps with a tiny gilt buckle,
fine Italian leather,
hand-sewn—
gold.
Though you are long-legged in these shoes,
your calves shapely,
your world is off-balance, thrown
into a realm where power
and vulnerability meet
where memories are made, forgotten
except by the body.
The body, you must know
by now, is the repository of all
bad decisions: just ask
the lungs, the heart, the skin,
the toes pinched
into permanent pain
by the tyranny of strappy high heels.
But let the body in repose also
remember breathless quick steps,
flashes of toes heels and soles
lace, silk
shirt slipping
off warm shoulders
hands hips bellies thighs
all caught in rhythmic muscle and bone.
Let the body remember only gold,
your glittering hour before midnight,
when you forgot
the clock,
forgot your balance,
ignored the tiny buckle
rubbing raw the ankle bone.
