Shaving My Legs for the First Time in Twenty Years

In the shower I inspect my leg,
prop my foot up
in the tiled corner, pivot
shin to calf, slowly back and forth
like a rotisserie display.

Under the blades miles and miles of leg
reveal themselves. A Sahara of leg!
I stay in the shower long
past the hot, long past
sense, admiring
my strong ankle sinews,
alien knees, stroking silky skin.

I swoon smooth strangeness,
feel illicit for days:
every breeze
up my pant leg a thrill,
I’m more naked than skin.

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Julie Ebin is a queer human whose work explores sensuality, finding stillness in nature, and motherhood. Ebin is a member of the Poem Works Boston community. In her earlier years, she studied with C.D. Wright and Gale Nelson. Her work has most recently appeared in Solstice, Touch: The Journal of Healing, and Off the Coast. A co-founder of the former experimental collaborative writing group v.e.r.b.a.t.i.m., Ebin lives in Arlington, Massachusetts with one child and zero cats.