Remember, Body ...

by C. P. Cavafy
(translated by Aliki Barnstone)

Body, remember not only how much you were loved,
not only the beds where you lay,
but also those desires for you,
shining clearly in eyes
and trembling in a voice—and some chance
obstacle thwarted them.
Now when everything is the past,
it almost looks as if you gave yourself
to those desires as well—how they shone—
remember—in the eyes that looked at you,
how they trembled for you in the voice—remember, body.

from: The Collected Poems of C. P. Cavafy. Copyright © 2006