First Thing

Another ghastly morning
Too soon after night.
I rise and crack, and creak
Sore feet shuffle on the pale
Carpet. Gods I have to pee,
And doing fills my heart with
Harmony.
The mirror shows the ravages
Of time. A gray hair here and there
The water beating down on me first
Too cold and then too hot.
Shampoo clawing at my eyes,
Sandpaper towel on my skin,
And then a blade, and then the blood,
An offering.