I am an old kitchen timer
who lives in the bathroom
and I work once a day
for fifteen minutes, while
Anne showers.

I don't know what
she does in there -
maybe she sneaks
down the drain,
pops up into another
bathroom where  everything
so confusing here makes
absolute sense.

Or maybe she stays
and tries to scrub off
the night.

At the end of her time
I bring her back
loudly, insistently;
I hear her shiverswear
when she turns off
the water.

Why she climbs out
and into the day - every day -
I have no idea.
I am only a simple
timer with a dial
that turns and a silver bell
for my back.
I do not compute.