Paul Hostovsky

P a u l   H o s t o v s k y 

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Pleasure

When you’re in pain

you take

pleasure in nothing

but pain’s

diminishment,

if pleasure

you can call it,

testing

the thinness of it,

disbelieving,

distrusting,

tiptoeing

down into the kitchen

where a few dirty dishes

that aren’t yours

wait in the sink,

and you begin

washing them

slowly,

thoroughly,

gratefully,

the warm

water on your wrists,

the sweet-

smelling soap, the clean

dishes stacking

in the dish rack,

dripping,

glistening,

solid.