the surface of normal

mixed stirred shaken poured pounded rolled and sliced tis a blessing tis a curse tis a wondrous fulfillment of love lust and loathing the seconds in a minute the minutes in an hour the hours in a day

this day this daze coats the surface of his normal

not unlike the thousand year old salt evaporated from the sweat of swimmers stripped of speedo and cap coating the redwood benches floors and walls incapsulated in the sauna squeezed slipped and separated from bodies born before betelgeuse

a crusty crackly crustaceous coating

protecting tender feet from feral foot fungus present since the club’s founding in that year of our lord eighteen hundred and seventy three claimed proudly stated loudly horns blaring flags waving chest thumping corner pissing mary hailing self declaring

they are a proud people they are a boastful bunch they are brazen sons of bitches sporting corpulent coltish cocks and paul bunyan balls that glow red and purple as they thaw in the dry heat

they are strong like bull

red and yellow black and white they are precious in his sight

angel and demon noble and savage an ordinary folk of demotic language who have yet to find a body of water they couldn’t swim a splash of rum they couldn’t drink a piece of ass they couldn’t mount

they hold court in the sauna pontificating on points substantial and subsidiary shameless and surreptitious

while the world outside passes by unnoticed

they walk in they shiver they shake they plop their post plunge derrieres on the dried kindling their consciousness slowly returns from the chill memories temporarily lost give rise to awareness awake and avail themselves to neptune and his nymphs

oh goddess of the water
thank you for taking me into your arms
rocking me gently
delivering me
safely back to shore