The tile is hard and doesn't give

The tile is hard and doesn't give.

I’m on all fours, scrubbing the gray

out of the grout with a stiff brush.

My kneecap is a white, round stone

grinding against the porcelain.

I sit back on my heels and watch

the skin stretch thin over the bone.

There’s a bruise from the radiator,

a yellowing thumbprint of a mark

that hurts when the weather changes.