“Tub” by Linda M. Rhinehart Neas
Response
Photo taken with Nikon Coolpix 4300
Digitally enhanced with Gimp
Side by Side in the Outhouse by Heidi Mordhorst
Inspiration piece
One night late I’m brushing my teeth
when my dad says, “You know, son,
we’re poor.
“Here we are three bathrooms in the house–
one of them with double sinks–
and nowhere to have
a midnight two-seater talk.
Here, when you have to go in the night,
it’s a lonely affair.”
I have to ask what he’s talking about.
“When I was a boy in New Mexico,
if I had to go in the night,
I’d wake my father up. Together
we’d take our flashlights and
head to the outhouse.
Side by side we’d do our business,
alone in the deep dark of the desert.
“And then, since we were there, and up,
my father and I would sit for a while,
side by side in the outhouse,
in the cactus-flower glow of the flashlights,
with the Sears catalog handy for
paper and inspiration, and have
a midnight two-seater talk.
Yessiree, we’re poor these days.”
I hang up my toothbrush; Dad turns out the light,
and we sit down
side by side on the edge of the tub.
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