Flashback: circa Winter 1999

once upon a time there was a man
  in his cave waiting to be disturbed
  and reminded who he was

he was shaken by a woman whose hair bore 
   thousands of red suns
   distilling fire in her hair

and every morning after that 
   with every drop of fire 
   her eyes changed their color 
      to a different shade of green he hasn't 
      tasted before:

earthy, sweet, sour, acidic, hot,
   icy, rusty, breezy, bitter, minty...

the words they exchanged
   spoke of ice and storm deserts 
   as perfect allusions to the small disasters 
      they shared 

"in the archipelago of loves i lived through
   i came to believe that
   loving someone has nothing to do with
   the object of one's affection but
   one's heart" she said

he didn't know why he told her 
   he's loved her the same 
   where-ever she was
   whom-ever she was with
   always

probably because it was the truth
   or because he didn't know what was it like
   otherwise

she lit a cigarette
and he thought he saw a spec of grey
   in her eyes as soon as she spoke the words
   "i think men are simple" 
which playfully intertwined
   with thin smoke veins of the 
   conversation they have longed they had had
   since they have met eons ago

the greens of her eyes
   the red of the wine she sips
   the reddish brown of her hair

i like being simple he thought

her hair kept bearing red bright suns
   the sun kept distilling fire
   as his thought became words on the
      tip of his fingers 
   moving onto her hands
   moving onto her lips
   into her eyes
   as a catalysis changing their color
      again

as if in this barren desert of ice and snow
   the conversation they have longed they had had
   run on borrowed time and 
   her eyes were trying to be all the greens and
   her hair was trying to be all the reds 
      he could imagine 
   as fast as they can 
   but they had no time

and he said
"i love you but i don't take you for granted
   nor do i believe i have the right to ask
   you to be who i want you to be
             where i want you to be
             how i want you to be"

realizing soon she had to go

"i don't want to be a burden"
   he added gravely

he said he loved her 
   onto her breasts
   stressing each syllable with a pause
   in her own tongue:

"se...ni...se...vi...yo...rum"