Shower

You enter naked, stripped
of those last vestiges of vanity.
Everything’s now out in the open.
This is finally the you you are.

And you are welcome here
with a warm caress poured
gentle over bent head,
burdened shoulders.

Close your eyes
give yourself to it,
let its love roll down,
touch every imperfect thing

even the in-between places,
those cracks that won’t close.
Stand here. Don’t move.
Don’t consider your way forward—

the endless attire of a clothed world.
Steep in this moment
become rich, full-bodied.
Then worship.

Sing your off-key song of thanksgiving.
Hear your voice returned different,
more true. Yes, the world will
ravage you, but don’t despair.

You can come back tomorrow
renew your friendship with tile
and faucet, with that admiring drain
always looking up to you.

Copyright © 2019 by AJ Saur, from Particles in Motion (Murmuration Press).