Remembering...

1.13  Chlorine Sore

You and the smell of 

freshly baked cookies

enticing us to move in

little knowing roaches

living inside the paneling

were listening to every word

salivating at the thought

of swarming the oven

once the lights went out

all we could dare to 

avoid eye contact with

were the square red 

patches on your arms

cracked and ringed with rime

and your conversation about 

too much chlorine in the pool

did I mention it has a pool

which my brain forever tied together

into a fear seen best

in the bathroom mirror

with its many lights

its cloistered vanity

where I urged the

redness not to appear

and that tiny concern

that engulfed my brain

to start growing if you please

since high school was 

as right around the corner

as Javi the Orkin man.

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Out