Bridal Soap

I bought it on impulse
(eleven dollars!)
for someone else, of course—
a young thing back home.

When I unpacked from my trip,
I tucked the lace-bag package
(the scent soft, water-borne)
in my underwear drawer.

Time passed, the young thing
eloped, and I decided
(what the hell . . .)
to unwrap the pearly white bar

for my morning shower.
After all, who knows better than I
(forty-nine, thrice wed)
what it means to be a bride.