Remember, Body… — Constantine P. Cavafy

Body, remember not only how much you were loved,
not only the beds you lay down upon,
but also those desires that, for you,
shone openly in the eyes
and trembled in the voice — and some
chance obstacle brought them to nothing.
Now that everything lies in the past,
it seems almost as though to those desires too
you had given yourself — how they shone,
remember, in the eyes that looked at you;
how they trembled in the voice, for you, remember, body.

1918