Body Temperature

The water heater had given most of what it had

before I got to it.

I turned the knob all the way

and stood in what came out anyway—

barely above the temperature of a hand.

No steam on the tiles.

The mirror stayed clear.

Just me and the water,

neither one helping the other.

I'd been on the train for an hour and ten.

The delay. The platform cold enough

to feel in your back teeth.

I'd been thinking about the shower

the whole last mile home.

It didn't fix anything.

It was just water at the temperature

of a thing that keeps going

without being good.

Not cold enough to wake you up.

Not warm enough to open anything.

Just present.

I stayed in it anyway.

Too tired to step out.

Too far past caring to be angry.

Long enough that the mirror finally fogged

a little. Just at the edges.

Like something in the room

was still trying.