Perfect Life
When I was 13 I had a sister for 6 months
She arrived one February morning, pale and shell shocked
From past lives I could not imagine. She was 3 years older than me but in no time we became friends
We'd listen to her mix tapes; Dead Can Dance, Felt, This Mortal Coil
She introduced me to her favorite books, gave me clothes and my first cigarette
Sometimes we would head down to Blackbirds Moor to watch the barges on Grand Union in the twilight
She said, "The water has no memory"
For a few months everything about our lives was perfect
It was only us. We were inseparable
But gradually she passed into another distant part of my memory
Until I could no longer remember her face, her voice, even her name
We have got
We have got a perfect life