It rained so hard

the bath water came in reddish brown.

I didn’t care.

I loved it.

I stepped in and rejoiced

the feeling of that soft iron clay and silt

hugging my body.

I pretended I was a frog down at the pond,

momentarily content,

with just my eyes peering out of the safe and murky depths.


Poem by Merenda Cecelia
Art by Peter Sugarman