i don't know why you would go far away
i don't know when I would have a match again
my body and heart are only accustomed to you
    i lack the strength to turn back

* i don't know why you would let go
i only know i'm used to holding you, holding for too long
i was afraid once these hands lost you
    tremors would result in my motions

i still remember
    on my left side, a face of tenderness
        coming from your warmth
            being consumed by the pillow
i likewise remember
    that day, a face of sad pleading
        rocking my right arm
            just like that, we parted

** from that day on i could not tell front from back
from that day on i even mixed up left and right
my routine turned upside down, i couldn't open my mouth to breathe
you left, and everything fell apart

from that day on i fell in love with my left hand
from that day on i loathed my right hand
*** why didn't i have the strength to grasp this tiny spark
in the vast heights and depths of the sky and sea, what can i own? *

* repeat *

keeping you
    don't go away
        but how can i remove these handcuffs that are restricting me?
            there's love, but it's hard to steal it!

** repeat *
*** repeat *
 

For Leslie’s Pillow – © 2001 TranceLoka Studio, San Francisco, California.