Ablution

I step out of the shower

and have been renewed.

The simple act of running water across the body

and rubbing a lump of animal fats and alkaline

across my skin

has left me feeling

like I were new

and alive again.

I have broken the water,

destroying its surface tensions

and battering the bonds

of the filth that a day of life

had pressed into my skin

and marked upon my soul.

Like rain washes the summer from a city

and rinses winters grime from her streets

I have showered

and can call myself human

again.