Shower Curtain

We had a bathtub,
simple, with scrolled edge,

rack for soap and flannels.
The only shower I’d seen

was in a chilly row of cubicles,
in changing rooms at school

and the local swimming baths:
pools on the floor, no privacy.

A shower with a curtain was new to me.
It was pink and pretty-patterned with shells

and scalloped hem, a fresh rubber smell,
tinged with soap scum. Naked,

inside the shower shroud,
Psycho music struck up in my head,

a loud violin screech tore the curtain aside
and, for months, I had a bath instead.

Kim M. Russell, 6^th April 2018

My response to The Poetry School NaPoWriMo Prompt for Day 6: Starship Tropers

Today,  Ali poses the question, what is a trope? He says, according to tvtropes.org, a trope is “a convention…a plot trick, a setup, a narrative structure, a character type, a linguistic idiom”: it’s the college kids at the scary house deciding to split up, it’s the butler doing it, it’s the librarian removing her glasses…and…my God, she’s beautiful!

He has set the task of writing a poem that mentions, investigates, subverts or utilises a trope from literature, television, film, or music. He suggests using tvtropes.org’s blue ‘Random Trope’ button in the top right corner of their home page. He has also provided two example poems: ‘The Expendables 2’ by Sam Riviere and ‘Jewel Thief Movie’ by Patricia Lockwood.