it's a thick coat of wet paint
and the smell of linen and damp towels
it's what i hear in the morning when the sky is still dark
the sudden flicker of red flame and then it is smoke in my eyes and now
it is trying to breathe
muscle memory
bathtubs broken eucalyptus
gum trees
hanging in the steam,
it is asking the rolling cement,
is this what being vulnerable feels like?