Leopard Bathing © Amelia Waiz
The Bath (after Keith Wilson)
In response to Leopard Bathing by Amelia Waiz
white belly and base
dressed in blue by the moon I stare
where I kneel to drink
lapping fabric to me
I stare, my back is
a blue lagoon
water skins over my surface
it slinks and slides
I send my tongue like a lamplighter
over the edges and back again
– smooth sailing
tongue rough as a die
I am floral, blue and blooming, sun-fed
long back and curled feet
bronze – wallpaper patterned
shadow my footsteps and watch me bathe
ink blue, tongue and groove
the pool at my back, my belly bare
deep lily my face, send fishes to greet me
deep water I slake, the rushes undo me
deep waterfalls, as you climb out of me
Victoria Punch is a voice coach and musician. Curious about voice and identity, the limits of language and how we perceive things, her poetry comes from these explorations. She has been published in Roi Fainéant and the6ress and has poems forthcoming in Poetry, Otis Nebula and The Gravity of the Thing. She is on Instagram as @victoriapunch_ and you can find her on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/victoriapunch_.