Red

Red

Alone, I close the door behind me

And let the image scatter

Let go of the smile, and the frown

Let the mask relax

It has no purpose here

Beyond words and expressions

Only me

Peel back the layers one by one

And let them fall to the floor

Back before this body

Before humanity

Before good and evil

Through naked primal forces

To when there was only blood.

The hot water falls red with it

It is the reddest thing I’ve ever seen

The original, universal, stark against white

Screaming its vitality as it flows toward the drain

I don’t know if it is unclean or powerful

No difference

If it is birth or death

The blood pushed out with a healthy newborn

Blood pumping from a man’s chest as his eyes stilled

I’ve seen both, and it looked the same

Inseparable

In this time, for this moment of every day

Such distinctions do not exist

Unity running red down my legs

The pain I have suffered, the pain I have caused

The gifts I’ve been given

And the gifts I have to give

All are embodied here

My life

Not draining out of me

But effusing from me

Too filled with passion to be contained

I let the heat engulf me, drum out the tension

Flow over me until the water runs clear

And step out feeling

Renewed

-Lucille Tower