Fire and Ice

Contradiction compels the senses.

He stood and stared out the window
of his garden level apartment
as the cold steam silently splashed his face
landed harmlessly on his shoulders
and leaked down about his armpits and elbows.

Meanwhile,
hot water cascaded from the heavens onto his scalp and back
dripping down his chest and running down the back of his legs
invigorating the soreness he kept within them.

He woke up a mess and dead tired
rolled out of bed and stumbled to his bathroom.
He looked at himself in the mirror
the filth and stink of the previous night's debauchery
still weighed on his conscience and filled his nostrils.

He felt as if the whole world was dropping on his head
and that soon enough he would be doubled over the porcelain.

But he didn't vomit, and he didn't take a pill
he turned on the shower and let the heat fill the room.

He pulled back the curtain and cautiously stepped inside
and let the luxurious extravagance
of indoor plumbing and heated water,
grab his nerves and firmly work out the kinks in his neck
from sleeping awkwardly in a drunken stooper.
The pain in his head was only getting worse
throbbing, as his brain swelled
and his stomach was still turning over in knots.

So he opened the small window standing next to him.
The brisk morning immediately sedated his senses.
He closed his eyes and let the cold scintillate his face.

He no longer felt the pain in his body.
The stress of the week's events vanished from memory
and for the first time in weeks,
he felt invigorated both mentally and physically.

For the first time in months, he felt alive.