June 5

the boy in the bath

A boy in the bath

Creates a space for himself

Amongst the fizzle of

The orange bursts and bubbles of

A childhood that was

Free from sin

The tub is vast -

Bottomless, too

Watching evenly and obediently

Towards those that commanded him

Towards those that watched him grow

Learning

Growing among the odd ways of the world

Playing with the dolphins

In his atmosphere of

A good-smelling delight

Clean of all the scabs

Endured during scooter races

And hot summers playing

Enjoying the company

Of his best of friends

Here's the thing

They didn't ask

He didn't ask

To be part of something

So wonderful,

But as wonderfully dreadful

And as painful as this single experience

The waters are silky

As oil begins to pollute

The pure water within their soul

What did he expect

When they sent me here

At the bottom of a

Now lukewarm tub

Sitting

Do you know how much

It hurt

When the hot water burned my skin

His conscience

Was clean,

At first

Now it's dirty,

Mangled

He no longer smells

Those sweet summers

Of watermelon slices

And comforting warm

Bubble baths

It feels more like the water is drowning him

Rather than keeping him afloat

However

When you're sitting at the bottomless

Bottom of the hard edges of the bath

And when the hot tap

Is turned on

Don't listen to the lies it spews out

Because that's

When he learned that oil

Does not mix with water

And when he finally accepted

That accepting your situation

For what it is

Rather than fighting against the tides of the tap

Now, simply,

Please enjoy

Your bubbly experience in

The bath

You hear stories

Of the wonderfully dreadful

Bubbly bath

But not even your priest

Tells you what you'll experience

In this one life

Great friends

Great family

They are all good people

However,

Listen to the priest

Because he may tell you

To enjoy the bubbles

And bursts

Of sunshine
Ride your scooter

Along the blue path

With the boy in the bath

By nomwonton