Jessica Purdy
Pink Bathroom: Deceased: Mrs. Rose Fishman March 31, 1942
—after The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, by Frances Glessner Lee
Rose, your name the same
color as your bathroom, found
dead and blocking the door.
Fish swim across the walls
and your married name—Fishman
obliterates your maiden name, in death.
Were fish the last thing you saw;
did you think you wouldn’t
be found rotting already?
The one ugly thing in the room
reflected in the mirror. Your
bathrobe looks soft and homey.
Your slippers prettily posed
at the edge of the tufted carpet.
The only feet that had touched
this floor since your husband died.
Read the Museums | Read the Art | Read the Contributors | Contributor Bios