the Mud turtle

______________________________


She will never apply herself
for long in chlorine,
I thought; nor fluoride,
I agreed with myself again
about the city water as

it strayed down
a swarm to stir,
then to weep --
dribbled down patiently,
the remaining drops,

as I twisted
the slick knob back
to dam the sterling tap
which ran little water:

     Alone, she hangs
     her head out now,
     makes length of her
     neck and nostrils and
     breathes but when I
     walk in to piss she
     swallows her head
     inside her shell,
     with a leech on it I
     never bothered to remove.

It reminds me of myself
the way she
has parasites,
the way she
vanishes --

all her head and mouth
so entirely gone.

______________________________