It is like my private pool,
All white and big enough
for two to meet.
It lies alone most days
Waiting for my attention.
I fill it with water that is hotter
than a Japanese geothermal spa.
I enter naked and carefully
To sit not on river rocks
but a textured plastic bed.
The ointments dance with
the watered bubbles of air and
soon I am sitting in
a field of rain-bowed orbs
with burbled sounds
drowning my thoughts.
I am up to my ears in
pinks, yellows, greens and blues.
It is a glittering luxury.
Enough water to quench
the thirst of an Egyptian family
for months.
Enough perfumed balms
to satisfy any Cleopatra.
But I am no beauty.
I study my shell and
find I no longer recognize it.
It is covered in smudges
brown, pink, red and black.
Some smooth and some
like rough sand.
When did I lose my skin?
Did I shed it like some snake
and then step aside or
did it flake away slowly
like cream-colored wallpaper
disappearing in the air
as I walked?
These days I must contort
like some gymnast
to enter and exit.
Some day I will not
be able to enter my private bath.
My limbs will petrify
ever so slightly but harshly.
I slip beneath the
white foam
and ask for forgiveness
and another day.
(Some may find it interesting that the photo above was originally a lovely sundog I had captured one fall afternoon.)
12 compelling comments:
What, you really have that sort of luxury on tap?
Do you have a spare room, by any chance?
Move over...my parched skin could use a soak in that bath of yours!
Hugs
SueAnn
Well said but oh so sad as we are forced to contemplate aging.
Or is it a tub out on a wooden decking?
This Jacuzzi sits in all its glory in my bathroom and not outside. And, yes, I have a spare bedroom. I will post a photo so you can plan your sleepwear to match the colors.
I'm relieved that this jacuzzi is in a bathroom. I was wondering if I could bring myself to go naked outside in a jacuzzi!
I miss this luxury on tap - that was in other homes. Alas, this cottage has a plain tub - but I fill it with hot water and scented bubbles and love it.
Our skin only part of a container
that is again. But we are still youthful inside - hopefully :)
Hmmm. I have always hated hot tubs. I may have to rethink this.
to sink beneath rainbow bubbles in all that warmth - it deserves this ode :)
That's a lovely image that works well with the words. I crawl into the hot tub but can usually climb out again at a normal rate. Blessings on hot tubs. :)
And is there mention of the 4 year old or festivities?
I surely would like to share that!! Great poem.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
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