Small magnets at the base
of the shower curtain have disappeared
over the last year; as the hot water
pounds down, the curtain billows up.
Mostly a minor nuisance, except
for yesterday, when it slid up
against my slick body and I
stepped into the curtain,
instead of pushing it away —
stepped into it and was enveloped
within it. Thin wet plastic
held me like a ghost of a caress;
imagined skin, against my loneliness.
*****
January 17, 2001