Vulnerable and cold,
my naked paws prod the stiff stone.
Arms tight on my shivering body,
as if I’ll fall apart if I don’t hold.
Arms rippled like the flesh of poultry,
I inhale courage and trigger the switch:
instantly, the cold I knew was no cold at all.
Raw blizzards whip my bare back and “OH YOU B—”
Icicle daggers jabbing with unforgiving fervor,
I frantically wrestle to undo the pain.
With an urgent jerk, thunder into rain.
As I face the warmth like a gentle embrace,
sweet damp air fills my lungs once again.
Eroded by joyful tears from a frigid avalanche,
My roughly freckled skin smooths like river stone.
After winter follows spring: a perfect season of bliss.
The calm air fills with sweet scents, gifts of Persephone on her throne.
But short is my delight as spring rages into summer.
The gauge’s needle rattling frantically in the red.
With barely a touch, my body’s stained scarlet,
Initially an oasis, it’s the devil’s broth instead.
In my agony, I fumble around;
I writhe and twist into an inhuman shape.
The system must be terminated if I wish to escape.
Scalding and steaming, I land the final blow
and throw open the veil. The fog dissipates.
Pitter patter, water drips on the plush mat.
Hair toweled in a swirl, I wring out oceans.
Two dots and a curve with a tongue sticking out:
I graffiti the dewy mirror with swift, seasoned motions.