The first time you pulled me
into your steaming shower
with only the hot water streaming,
I thought our bodies would be scalded.

But with your flesh pressed against mine,
the pain dissolved as my hands explored
your skin that was pale as fog
rising just to the cliff edge.

Holding your slippery body,
my mouth found yours
under the steaming spray,
and your kiss soothed the heat
out of my skin like flames licked by rain.

Now when I need to remember you,
I stand in the shower under the hottest setting,
and in the gushing, burning surge,
I can feel you once again
pressed against me like roots
suddenly tightening in a tree
split by lightning.