At Dawn She Comes: Warm Bath Water

Warm Bath Water

She seemed impervious
Now she’s gnawing on her knee
And I see she’s nervous
Sitting on the edge of the tub

She starts to stutter like the light
From an old fruit fly freckled forty-watt bulb
As our thoughts, they dissolve…

In warm bath water
Let’s soak together till we’re clear

Was I perhaps mistaken?
My master plan crafted with care
“It’s all there for the taking!
We’ve got the world in our cups.”

Young and invincible
We drank fiercely the nectar till we were drunk
Leaving forms frail to appall

Was I perhaps mistaken?
In the silence of a slow drip minute hand
That caresses my bare skull

In warm bath water
Let’s soak together till we’re clear
In warm bath water
My warmest memory is here

Thunder on the door
Her father brought his baseball bat
“We’ll laugh about it someday.”
I keep telling myself that

Knuckles crack like billiard balls
These Tylenols will kill me long before the pain
Alone and naked in the doorway

Why even bother?
I just get up to fall back down

The burnt rubber smell
And blood on a concrete wall
“I’m calling from Richmond.
I need a fast ride out of hell.”

“The years have been kind to you.”
But those years are only skin deep I can tell
From the battered horn of his voice

“Brother, I think I love her.”
But his eyes stab through the endless flesh of night
Bloody tongue holding reply

Why even bother?
I just get up to fall back down
Why even bother
To pick me up to fall back down?

Was I perhaps mistaken?
My master plan of flight by dare
It’s all there for the breaking
Was that the world in our cups?

Naïve romantics
But for a moment there was truth in desperate lies
To bring hurricanes to hush

I had the world in my arms
And she was warm and she was cool like summer rain
And there were blessings in the pain

In warm bath water
Let’s soak together till we’re clear
In warm bath water
My warmest memory is here