# 3 - VEILED IN STEAM by Conrad

blinded

by the sun

she  traverses

rooms

leaning

on her black stick

her twisted feet

hover

above the floor

her great fallen

head

her eagles nose

her flaring nostrils

still seek

the unattainable

reaching the bathroom

she crouches

veiled in steam

on her

precarious throne

posing

as her daughter

i shower her

with sudden ejaculations

of hot & cold water

rolling a slippery cake

of rose soap

over her nakedness

into the open graves

of her armpits

over the gentle egg

of her belly

she holds

out her hands

cupping

water

i slide rose soap

over

her burial mound

directing a warm stream

towards that sacred place

where I sheltered

68 years ago

how can I tell her

i revere her

I am lost

in the open grave

of her

arm pit

the soap

slithers out

of my hands

- Conrad