The present tense

is the body's past tense

here; hence

the ghost sludge of hands

on the now gray strip

of towel hanging limp

from the jammed dispenser;

hence the mirror

squinting through grime

at grime, and the worn-

to-a-sliver of soiled soap

on the soiled sink.

The streaked bowl,

the sticky toilet seat, air

claustral with stink-

all residues and traces

of the ancestral

spirit of body free

of spirit - hence,

behind the station,

at the back end ...