that filthy bathtub

that filthy bathtub


we’re hiding in the bathtub
I’m naïve to her past
her life beginning
just as I took my first breath of air

beneath the warm hugs
behind the old jewelry box
sealed in the rigid lockbox of her mind
my grandmother’s nightmare resides

working overtime, all of the time
Adultery.
a string of insults fired like a machine gun
Verbal abuse.
all of that time, and now all alone
Divorce.

the secret surfs my bloodstream
on a nauseous wave
tainting the secretive moment
and leaving a ring of pain around the bathtub
something’s hidden
between the preserved teeth of her smile
something so broken, she will never be fixed

And I now know.