Well it’s a new day now
and I’ve already gotten off to an edgy start.

I have to be somewhere at a certain time most days.

I resist the shower. It’s like a chore.
But I force myself to get cleaned. (again)

I enter steam.

Aquatic memories, 
etched in the history of my body cells
swim up and dissolve thoughts like ionic crystals,
so soothingly.

I kick. I swim in the sea of my blood, like a fish.

I happen to notice musty dirt and oil, soaped down the drain
serve some purpose elsewhere along the chain.

Then I emerge, renewed, to chop wood and carry water.