Old Men in the Locker Room Showers (song)

Song: Old Men in the Locker Room Showers
Music, Lyrics & Voices: Ai

[Verse1]
The steam hangs thick, a silent, greyish shroud,
On porcelain, on weary, sagging forms.
No longer athletes, muscular and proud,
But monuments to decades and to storms.
The spray from chrome heads hisses, a soft rain
That sluices off the years, the dirt, the ache.
And in this mist, old men are made plain,
For friendship's and for simple comfort's sake.
[Verse2]
They stand and turn, unbothered by the sight,
Past youthful ideals, time's gentle, slow trails.
The quiet sound of water, in the light,
A simple cleansing, where pretense fails.
No shame is here, just honest, open eyes.
Just human men, in bodies seen as found.
They do not talk of what the future tries,
But of the past, on this familiar ground.
[Verse3]
Some stoop to wash their feet, with careful hand.
Another hums a tune no one recalls.
The soap lathers up across the land
Of bellies, chests, and shoulder blades and all.
Then rinse again, the torrent clean and quick,
Washing away the solitary doubt.
Here, in the heat, the communal, cleansing flick,
The last of modest pretense is washed out.
[Chorus]
They dry themselves with old, familiar towels,
With casual ease, and with a kind of grace.
The locker room holds no contemptuous scowls,
Just silent bonds and time's relentless pace.
They leave the steam, back into ordered clothes,
The momentary nakedness put by.
A quiet peace, the kind that no one knows
But those who face the coming final sky.