We mapped each other, you and I, tracing invisible roads and rivers across the skin. Our bodies the landmarks of our world, a topography laid down through the trace of the thumb, and the pressing of palms. Territory charted with mouths, and hands, and ah, those lips. You know my heights and my depth now, you have discovered the part of me that resides below sea level, and the part that contains the highest of mountains. And against the landscape of your body I have tried to raise indelible flags to mark the places I too can claim. I was here, this kiss states, I was here, this sliding of my hand declares, I was HERE this touch of tongue to nerve blazes.

Those who conquer are so dependent on the memories of the conquered, it would seem.