outside you sit motionless, in a quiet sort of quitting away
and stare at all the yellow rotting away the white of the vinyl side.
your skin stuck in a slick of sweat on the plastic chair,
tomorrow will only be hotter.

i come home late again, 9:30 full moon and flick on the porch light.
i walk inside, you get up slow and follow.
you take off your shoe and jam it under the door
so we can feel the breeze.
i throw down my bag and walk towards the bathroom.
the sink is definitely clogged.
i hear the faucet drip, slide, plummet,
collide to form a dimple in the stagnant water.

you hang heavy in the doorway
and i leave it open, let you watch as i run the bath,
unbutton my cotton blouse and unzip my pants,
a circular red imprint is left on my skin,
and a deep line from the elastic of my underwear.
my legs stick together, little
beads of sweat caught on my eyelids trickle down
like tear drops and i exhale.

i pull you in and grab your hands,
forcing you to hold me against you,
your cool body against my skin, my pants at my ankles.
you pull my hair up, away from my neck
and twist it up, let it fall again, grab it in one massive hand.
i tilt my head so that you are cupping my face as though
it were a pillow. the tub is full.

i turn off the water and sit on the edge of the bath.
you roll up your pants and join me,
then raise my legs and balance them on your knees
so that i am hanging over you like a child.
you lift cupfuls of water with your palms and cascade it
across my sore feet, kneading them with your fingers
and repeating. i close my eyes,
hold my breath as i feel you taking off
what's left of my clothes, and placing my in the water.

kneeling by the bath now,
you run the water, drowning out the liquid soap
that runs from my chest downwards in a mountainous 'v'.
i am cool now, and feel alive again.
i pull you in with me, and burrow my face into your neck.
your fully clothed body consumes me
as the water overflows onto the floor.
i wrap my legs around you.

05/29/2008

Posted on 05/29/2008
Copyright © 2024 Lauren Singer