Body Temperature

The tank gave out sometime in the dark.

I stood under the spray, waiting for a spark

of something hot, but the stream stayed flat,

a dull, heavy silver against my back.

No steam rose up to blur the medicine chest.

The water didn't try, it didn't even protest.

It just pooled in gray ripples around my feet.

I stayed there until the cold was complete,

not because I liked the way the shivering felt,

but because I was waiting for the rest of me to melt.