Post-Surgery Shower by Lauren Seal

April 25, 2022

POEM TITLE: Post-Surgery Shower POET NAME: Lauren Seal POEM: He undresses her slowly, careful of the staples sealing her scalp shut. Lifts her legs over the lip of tub, steadies her against the stream. She used to squat her own bodyweight, now this pressure unbalances her. He massages shampoo into her shaved hair, red with crusted blood, her arms around his neck for strength. Avoiding the incision running from left to right ear like a headband, he rinses her yellow strands, the scent of two-day old hospital clinging to her skin. They are okay in the same way people walking from a car wreck are not: shocked, shaken. Still standing. They grasp each other until the water runs cold. END OF POEM. CREDITS AND BIO: Copyright © Lauren Seal Lauren Seal is a writer and librarian based in Edmonton, Alberta. Her work has appeared in various anthologies and literary magazines, and once on a beer can. In her free time, she mentors the teen and young adult poets of SWYC - the Spoken Word Youth Choir - and performs in the adult incarnation of the group.