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Oct/Nov 2005 Poetry Special Feature

To clean or dry by rubbing

by Dorothee Lang


To clean or dry by rubbing

In the hemisphere
Of artificial water
I wash away
The me and you
With thistle soap
For skin and hair

A white towel
Around my waist
I return to find
The us still heaving
Indignant like ivy
Torn from its place

I wipe my skin
Like a mirror
It reflects the one
Who isn’t me

 

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