THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

She was Nivkh, a native of the forest of the Far East where we had once seen a tiger, blazing in the snow… Her face was framed with long, glossy black hair; she had slanting eyes, the enigmatic smile of a Buddha.  Her body had skin that seemed to be covered with a golden varnish  and the reflexes of a liana.  When she sensed that I would not let her go, her body twined around me, moulded me, through all its trembling vessels.  She permeated me with her scent, her breath, her blood… And I could no longer make out where her body merged into the grass filled with the wind from the steppes; where the savour of her round, firm breasts mingled with that of the apple blossom; where the sky of her dazzled eyes ended and the sombre depths glistening with stars began.

Makine/River