My name is Halea Fields, and I am a 19-year-old Black woman. I live in Milwaukee, WI, and am currently pursuing my undergrad degrees in Environmental Studies and Creative Writing. This piece was inspired by a coven meeting. In this poem, I wanted to take the joke about womxn and hot showers and turn it into a more empowering sentiment. My goal with this piece was to show womxn in a magical and autonomous light and to catch the reader off guard with the outcome.
@_halearose_
Cleansing
Everyone jokes about how women take hot showers
Studies suggest those who feel deprived of social warmth use them to fill that void
Maybe we are lonely…
Or maybe we just want to disinfect ourselves of our long day
To wipe the sticky gazes of older men from ourselves
Maybe we like to watch the steam curl through the air as a lover would around our hair
Perhaps we take hot showers to give ourselves a few moments of peace
The mist fogs the mirror
When we shower we can’t see our reflection
We can’t see beauty standards or our lack thereof staring back at us with disappointment
The condensation clings to our stress receptors,
It inhibits the overthinking and the negative thoughts and replaces them with a warm, gray haze
But maybe our showers aren’t just a respite from everyday life
Maybe we like it hot because it brings us closer to home
If it’s scalding, perhaps we can melt ourselves
We can sink right down the drain, and ooze down to the depths of hell
We’ll have a party
We’ll bring lawn chairs and make s’mores together
We’ll use the raging fires to light our cigarettes as we chat about life
We don’t like it scorching because we’re alone
We take hot showers to rendezvous with our coven
-See you down there
