Slow soak

by Ondine Evans

Pondering, deep in thought.

Steam rises,

Small ripples start and fade

As a knee rises up from the depths.

Sweat mingles with condensation.

The shower drips slowly,

The droplets falling intermittently,

Thudding,

Alternate to the more steady drips from the spout,

That rattle.

Too becalmed to reach forward and still the flopping flow of drops,

Sunk into a steamy somnolence.

The slick walls are a capsule outside time,

Free from cold or thought or need.

Suspended in a cocoon of water.

Will I emerge as a darting dragonfly?

Slough off my carapace and be renewed.

A slow metamorphosis into a speeding wonder,

That bedazzles and is gone.

Or shall I stay, sunk in slumberous sloth,

Submerged in my watery thoughts?