the terms

the terms

The colonel praised the use of moderate electric shock.

Charles Simic

because finally

I purged myself

of the think:

I want you

again and deserve

what you do

to me again and again,

I open you long

after I’ve shut you

off as if on this

day

you’re a faucet you’re

a hot and cold mixing

valve finally fixed when

I chipped away 

the crumble

of the once

 adhering

corner on corner

spaces 

and reached between

the two

that needed

replacing

the two

I had

finally

(although this was later)

s  m  a  s  he  d

to get at you

I can’t say how

simple it was

to finally figure

I didn’t need

to stand

shivering in

the mist and trickle

of the shower

and quicken my invisible

splinters

(spinsters you'd call them)

the way I always

did that it was

it really was

a simple repair

and depending

on whose brand

I needed behind

it all

I can get off

with not having

to spend a week’s

pay to watch

some cliché

plumber come in

and diagnose me

as easy

as shit

I can do it all

myself, twist

consistently one way

to take it

out and the other

way to put it

right again.  Now

the crack

in the tile is mine

and depending on

the way the steam

rises

can be

a smile

can be

a wink

and if I join it

with the others

I didn’t put there

intentionally

I can

make

it

out

still

wet

and still

alive