by David Budbill
The woman is naked and
stepping into the tub,
half of her has already disappeared
behind the shower curtain.
The man is standing at the sink
in his underpants shaving.
The child is sitting on the toilet
peeing, her pants and underpants
down around her ankles.
Her feet don't quite touch the floor.
The three of them are visiting
about some of the kids
in the child's class at school
or they are talking about
what they did yesterday
or what they will do today.
The universal soul has flaked off
three particular souls
who have come together
in this bathroom in a kind of oneness
which is an imitation of
the universal soul itself.
It is an imitation of heaven.
They bathe, shave, pee, talk,
they look at each others' nakedness,
and they know a kind of calm, delight,
an ease, in the presence of each other
which is ecstasy.
(from JUDEVINE, Chelsea Green Pub. Co., 1991, 1999. Find the book at: http://www.davidbudbill.com/jude.html)