@@@@@I supposed there were You will want to, but
@@@@@I supposed there were
You will want to, but you mustn't, Elizabeth had
saidbut sometimes we can't help ourselves
The sand-girl held out her armThe wind gusted
and the fingers at the end of the hand blurred as
fine grains blew off them and thinned them to
bonesMore sand skirled up from around her and
the hand fattened againHer features shifted like
a landscape under rapidly passing summer clouds
"Give me the flashlight," she said"Then we'll go
on board togetherOn the ship I can be the way
1102
you remember meyou don't have to remember
anything
The waves were on the marchUnder the stars they
roared in, one after the other
Under Big Pink, the shells spoke loudly: my voice,
arguing with itselfHere in front of me stood
Ilse made of sand, a shifting houri by the light
of a three-quarter moon, her features never the
same from one second to the nextNow she was Illy
at nine; now she was Illy at fifteen, headed out
on her first real date; now she was Illy as she'd
looked getting off the plane in December, Illy the
college girl with an engagement ring on her finger
Here stood the one I'd always loved the best -
wasn't that why Perse had killed her? - with her
hand held out for the flashlightThe flashlight
was my boarding pass for a long cruise on
forgetful seasOf course that part might be a
liebut sometimes we have to take a chanceAs Wireman says, we fool ourselves
so much we could do it for a living
"Mary brought salt with her," I said"Bags and
bags of saltShe put it in the tubThe police
1103
want to know