THE PRIVILEGE OF POOP
The babysoft skin that
needs you to caress with cleaning
or it will sicken and hurt
leads you to an intimacy
unequaled in its depth
even in intercourse where
your own tissues are satisfied.
The welcoming of helplessness
draws from our minds the empathy
that is Wisdom; the tender suffering
in knowing that it will soon be
absent – that welcoming.
To share the smell, mess, work,
revulsion, bacteria, irritation, relief –
the paradox of privilege,
intimacy rare and precious,
grieved when it is gone.
pcraig 1-16-14