Bath Time

There’s always that moment of choice
when you’re lying in your bath, half-asleep:
should you pull the plug now? Then a voice
whispers, stay a bit longer . . . The deep

water’s warm and your body’s relaxed,
and your mind’s on unwind – it’s as though
pleasure won’t wane, only wax,
forgetting that you also know

it’s normal for tubs to grow colder,
and that if you apply the hot tap
getting out will become that much harder
once you’ve let your resolve further sap.

But awareness of how things must end
doesn’t help with the matter at hand,
and you’re now far too old to pretend
such dilemmas can somehow be banned.

Tom Vaughan

If you have any comments on this poem, Tom Vaughan  would be pleased to hear from you.