Patient Advocate
“Abuse is of use.” / That is what we tell ourselves. / That it makes us stronger.
“Abuse is of use.” / That is what we tell ourselves. / That it makes us stronger.
These are the subjects / you taught me, but as I sit in this / despair, they don’t comfort me. / I need you to teach me more.
I heard about the blood / that you described as a flood, / and the terrible stomach pain
I see You / Holding up the sign / standing in line / or in a crowd / loud and proud.
Those voluble cells which / lay softly atop the glass slide / compose the truth, compose the / cabalistic dialect of you and I
A courteous knock on the door / Followed by a confident entry / Quickly halted by an urgent cry
Yours is the name I carry on / You were the first I mourned when gone
20 / still / except / her chest rising, falling
The clock behind me ticks / As the seconds line up with the cicadas’ hiss, / I hear the children outside, and the cracks of sticks
As the door swings open, it hits the chair that was shifted more than usual. / Next to the computer sits a 94-year-old woman in a wheelchair / who is here for one last visit.
I’m 19, I was caught trespassing. / They said I was acting “unusual.” / No reason really.
A seedling, a baby — / the most vulnerable state. / Roots, placenta ground into mother — / wholly dependent on a magnificent caretaker.