I scolded myself today;
not in the way my Nanny did
whenever she battled my knotted hair,
but with water as I slid into the bath,
a welcome pain I use to escape the chaos
of anxious thoughts with shrill voices
talking of nothing but doom.
I remember the first time
I felt myself seared by the ambrosia
I believed mermaids regaled in:
it was the communal showers
at Harwich swimming pool
and my Granny marched defiantly
to reception complaining
that the water had scalded me,
it was red-hot and dangerous –
it was a pain I would become
accustomed to; embrace in fact
with aching limbs and tired skin,
with eyes which wish to cry
but will burn instead.
Poem: © Kristiana Reed 2019
Available internationally