i.
my mistress is no mother
a body barren
a sea of dry salt
her husband is no father
master and heir
wind with no cloud
ii.
her husband comes
by candlelight
his beard a brush
against my thigh
between my breasts
my cheek, my eye
iii.
I carry now his beating breath
his fingers flat
against my flesh
I watch my mistress wipe an eye
the skin of fish
a horse's hair
iv.
mistress, I must tell her
go and draw my bath
