by her name, to hear her name whis- pered was only a dream. What's in a

The turtle's white carapace she left at his door. A totem, a love token demanding pay attention.

Daniel is six foot two and the color of black amethyst glass. In certain lights, purple

glints are visible just
beneath his skin. Each
day when he returns
from casting his nets,
he spends three hours
before sunset tending
his garden. The basil,
tomatoes, courgettes
and anise are in one
section. The butterfly
bushes, roses, wine red
tulips, blue poppies

in another. The kid-
ney-shaped carp pond
is surrounded by
bamboo. Green and
amber broken bottles
crown his béton wall.
He is fifty-four and
has created a Garden
of Eden.

Contusions, a profu-
sion of love bites on

her breasts. Her over-
bite now charming in
others. She didn't
smile for seven years.

It can be brutal, the

pine straw sticking in
the catch basin, the
torrents of rain hitting
again and again,
making the opening
spasm uncontrollably.

Your body, I saw you, your body, and, oh, your body, your body and, yes, your body in the river, your body-

name? Entrancement or the end of a trance. Bulrushes line the mouth of a cave. An underwater entry rimmed