Her father was a mathematician

Her mother sold oranges at a local fair

We had been intimate for many years

Although she shared her life with others

On her birthday she walked naked from the bath

Across a crowded room

And was applauded for her vanity

 

I am sitting on her harbour arm

Sipping coffee from under a pink shift

She is too busy to speak to me

But the sea is friendly today

And the breeze does not trouble me

The town is now blue

As it always is in the autumn