Curious Connections

Cleaning the bathroom tonight,
My nose and throat sting
As Tilex-induced vapors bore their collective ways
Into my mucous membranes,
Raw already from this week's cold.

My memory burns too.

The eyes inside my skull blind me to shower grime, and
Peer into a dark, cool changing room.
Shadowed green, white, and yellow tiles
Drip with condensation created by the perfect recipe of
Wet bodies, the Georgia summer heat, and humidity which would make pine straw curl.
Sunshined green leaves and light peep through high windows
And I hear a girl yell as she jumps off the diving board across the courtyard.
My rubber band goggles strap tugs at my knotted hair,
And my feet slide across the foam soles of flip-flops which are too big and mildewed.
I hurriedly do my business in the swimming pool's stall,
Considering the tumor on my great-grandmother's leg
Which only made its presence known during swimsuit days in Texas just like this one.
Did she notice it first in the mirror of a swimming pool bathroom like this?
Do I have one too?
I curiously study my skinny thigh in the corroded mirror.
My eyes and nose burn from the truckloads of chlorine in the pool.
It is a gift which I now carry permanently in my hair, eyes, mouth, nose, skin.
I push open the heavy, metal door,
Into the heat
To go back for more.

Anticipation

O come, o come Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appears.

Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!
Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!

O come, Thou Dayspring, cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here.
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.