Mind led body to the edge of the precipice. They stared in desire at the naked abyss. If you love me, said mind, take that step into silence. If you love me, said body, turn and exist.

Tarset: Bloodaxe 2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1987. Middletown CT: Wesleyan University Press 1974; London: Oxford University Press 1974.

Anne Stevenson (born January 3 1933) is an American-British poet and writer.