[Alex Pepple]

Hello, Alessio,

No need for apologies! Your questions show thoughtful engagement with the poem, which I greatly appreciate.

Yes, exactly as you realized in your postscript - the lobby light is simply the actual light in the present setting where the narrator encounters this person from his past. I chose "lobby light" specifically because lobbies often have that distinctive, slightly artificial illumination that can make people appear different than they might in natural light - adding to that sense of recognition and misrecognition that runs through the poem. Still, having said that, your question has prompted me to look deeper into matters of consistency for the poem. At the start we’re in a “lavish hall,” but later, it’s the “lobby light.” So, there’s some disconnect between “hall” and “lobby.” Hence to address this potential problem, it’s now “amber light.”

I'm glad the silk imagery worked for you as representing both the fleeting nature of memory and the element of desire/luxury. You've picked up on exactly the kind of multilayered meaning I was hoping to create.

Thank you again for your perceptive reading and thoughtful questions.

Cheers,
...Alex