Ode to the Invention Called the Shower

That first collision of the cold splash of water

With the steaming heat of my scalp

Followed by the explosion of ecstasy

And the escape of a moan

From a mouth minutes ago was cursing summer

And I feel like I was the one to discover

The opposite of fire

And so I melt in a ball of exquisite joy

Of utter surrender

Whispering a prayer to the God of water

And I let the rivulets of pleasure

Drizzle my hair

Trickle down my face

Tickle my back

Embrace my chest

Wash away the grime

Obliterate summer’s sweat

And expunge the heat

And erase the hate

For this torrid bleeping weather

The curse of being a tropical creature

Ah, this magnificent shower

This splash of relief

If only I could stay here forever

A Stanza for my Sister

A whisper in my heart, 
a conversation in my dream, 
a gap in my soul, 
a universe of memories in my mind, 
a tear in my eye, 
an ache in my gut, 
a hope in my spirit, 
a yearning in my chest, 
your absence
a never disappearing presence in my life.