Still...

Brimming glasses in hands, face after face shining and open with peals of laughter, unbridled laughter. A fast beat. Whirling around bare feet, dancing, the flowers of skirts. Hair let loose. . . . Stamping feet, stamping feet, celebration, celebration. Winking, our eyes, at thousands upon thousands of lit lamps all over the hill, all over this city. The silk straps of my dress slipped down my arms, I in your embrace, happy, happy, unafraid; behind the locked door, night after night, in the corner of my room, still, behind my forehead...