My Husband Talks to Himself in the Shower

Sadie Shuck Hinkel 

so I sneak in 

and sit on the toilet with a Hogwarts-

themed coffee cup. I curl my legs

beneath me and ingest the parts 

of him that taste like his citrus-cedar 

scented 3 - in - 1 shampoo/  conditioner/  bodywash. 

He plans his day out in the steam, 

gotta do          this/     this/   this 

he mutters, and the echo of the water

matches the incantations of his voice and I gulp

it down and swallow his spells. 

It tastes like Felix Felicis—liquid luck. 

I decide that tonight, instead of drawing 

a bath of bergamot and grapefruit, I will 

squeeze the bottle of 3 - in - 1 into our townhouse

bathtub because I want the bends of my bones

to smell like his store-bought magic. 

Sadie Shuck Hinkel is a poet and essayist from the Midwest. She received her MA from Coastal Carolina University, and she is an editor for Electric Moon Magazine. Her work has been featured or is forthcoming in The Manhattanville Review, Barren Magazine, Ghost City Review, Boston Accent Lit, and others.