Doncaster Belles Lime

Doncaster Belles Lime:
Remembering St James Turkish Baths

Up with the toilet bags on the shower room shelf,
Into the sauna, Josie leads us,
to hang out in our bathing costumes.

Mary’s grey haired, her body translucent,
Noni’s brown and Lucie’s red.
Our towels laid out on wooden deck chairs,
Spread out are our legs.
We open tubes and pots of emollient.
Belly rolls of fallen flesh, unfold.

Elongated, wasted,
and sunken are our breasts.
Josie’s not hiding her mastectomy.
Lucie’s moles and freckles she shows,
Noni her varicose veins,
her bald head too when her wig comes off.
Josie’s thinning grey hair are in rollers.

Lucie’s shaved her pubes again,
dimpled and flabby is her behind.
nobody minds our cellulite thighs.

This is our space, our territory,
our time, to hang lose.

We exfoliate the dirt from labours and
services, mostly unpaid care for others
In eucalyptus steam filled rooms,

Lucy going for a swim now,
Mary a dip. Woah! The water’s too cold,
a shower then, sauna.

Back and forth, forth and back
in and out of rooms and pools

We quench our thirst with open wide mouths
held over that of the bronze dolphin fountain.
We take turns to massage each other readily.
Share troubles, there’s advice, aplenty from Noni.
Everyone speaks over each other.
Exchange gossip, Josie’s always the one in the know,
the place to go for prize bargain buys.

Noni’s promises to bring in a cake as it’s her birthday next
to celebrate.
A smuggled in drink would be welcomed too.

Now hunt for the purse, it’s Turkish bath lottery syndicate time
We’ve fanciful dreams to nurse.

Everyone lies on their back until about three,
When, in comes bath attendant Debbie with free toast and the teas.

Having arrived around ten most of us have to go.

Cheerio!’

Our Mary’s got Grand uns to pick up from school,
Josie’s got her dementia mum back from daycare to attend to,

Joanie’s got moaning Frank’s dinner to cook.
So, for all of us, it’s back to the grind,
Until we meet again next week
For our Doncaster Belles lime.

Ros