Routine

by Bill McCloud

For more than sixty years
I’ve had a subconscious
routine when I shower

Let water run over me
Shampoo my hair
Rinse then condition
Rinse then soap all over
Then final rinse

for sixty years

This morning I forgot
the routine and just
stood in the shower
with water running
over me and not sure
what to do next
How do I begin?
Where do I start?
What do I do first?
Why am I standing here?

I eventually stumbled
my way through and
made it out of the shower

But now for the first time
in my life I fear tomorrow’s
shower and the unknowable
when routine is no more