Shaving In The Shower

[sd gross]

Shaving in the Shower
by Stephen D. Gross

The rhythmic beat of the falling water
hushes the rasp of the guillotine choir
slicing hair from flesh
spilling blood salty scarlet
sticky worms wriggling
below the breeze-teased canvas
on which legions of scallops
rough-edged in dry bone
do their coral-kissed tango
up and down the slick vinyl
Ethereal seafoam
melting and morphing
Calcium fusing
to Botticelli's shelf -
Where Venus stands naked
as a pale winter rose

(Outside my bathroom window
the ocean curls and thrums
a fresh marine breeze
teases frayed towel fringes)

Above the dolphins dance,
the mighty Manta's wings beat
The Arrows of the Sea
immutable, ravenous
school like demons

Like winter wheat
stream her locks
Her quicksilver tears
streak the cold porcelain
her sorrow lifts me above
the sheltering fog
Familiarly my fingers
climb the ridges
knead the valleys
soap the leather of my neck
I feel the quiet rush
of life's ruby cocktail
trickling between the reeds and seagrass
which emerge from my pores

Sinuous, sensuous
feeding, synapsing
Her feathery golden mane
furls and snaps
tendrils burning,
Tiger tails in Chaos
The red sun shakes
like a wet dog on fire
burning my thighs, my knees
Her tongue savors
the sharp chrome edge
of my sticky crimson
streaming down the drain

Unbearable is Her hunger
Her salt-watery eyes
plead with Neptune....
But Alas
His mossy green tears
ask their own bearded questions