The well on the farm tasted of iron.
Friends could not stomach the smell.
In winter I bathed once or twice a week
in my sister’s leftover water.
In Delhi, in summer, you showered morning
and evening and sometimes in between; in winter
just one bucket bath per day, and you’d recline
on the balcony to dry your hair in sunlight.
I asked you if the Jamuna was holy before
realizing that all rivers
are holy. In summer my family
swam daily in the Swift Current Creek.
We talked this afternoon
as you were getting ready for bed,
but I could not feel your damp black
hair through my laptop screen.
Alone, I shower tonight before bed,
making myself clean for you.
(Swift Current Creek photos by Jessi Gowan)
Lee Gowan 