there is a pink and white striped towel hanging on the towel rack in my bathroom

i left it there
in case you wanted to come back and use it

i soak in a hot bath
and watch the candle flicker
turning the pink to a purple and the white to a yellow

wondering about how beginnings are almost always scary
and endings are usually sad

i close my eyes
and let the myself sink into the darkness
wishing -

     for a single moment
     of feeling like the universe isn't crushing me