My Husband Talks to Himself in the Shower
Sadie Shuck Hinkel
so I sneak in
and sit on the toilet with a Hogwarts-
themed coffee cup. I curl my legs
beneath me and ingest the parts
of him that taste like his citrus-cedar
scented 3 - in - 1 shampoo/ conditioner/ bodywash.
He plans his day out in the steam,
gotta do this/ this/ this
he mutters, and the echo of the water
matches the incantations of his voice and I gulp
it down and swallow his spells.
It tastes like Felix Felicis—liquid luck.
I decide that tonight, instead of drawing
a bath of bergamot and grapefruit, I will
squeeze the bottle of 3 - in - 1 into our townhouse
bathtub because I want the bends of my bones
to smell like his store-bought magic.
Sadie Shuck Hinkel is a poet and essayist from the Midwest. She received her MA from Coastal Carolina University, and she is an editor for Electric Moon Magazine. Her work has been featured or is forthcoming in The Manhattanville Review, Barren Magazine, Ghost City Review, Boston Accent Lit, and others.