Stiletto

I love to swim
with blossoms in the stream
air alive with sunlight
and drink the tale of years.
I would tell you, dear beloved...
I grew, before time was worth mine,
alone
with the sun to soothe my feet.

I travelled
country through country
sea upon sea.
In a land where daylight
is shadowed with dragons and kings,
blood and bone,
I built a fortress
stone upon stone,
and built myself in.

(from Fear of Heights, 1984)