Some wit asked me
\nif I was having my cat scanned,
\nand that kind of pissed me off
\nbecause he stole my line.
\nHow does he know whether I have cats?
\nHe goes in for his scan.<\/p>\n
They give me a drink of iodine solution.<\/p>\n
You always dislike in others
\nthat which is most in yourself.
\nHe comes out.<\/p>\n
The woman across from me is afraid
\nI don’t like that fear in her, much;
\noh, she’s nice enough,
\nbut she is facing removal of a kidney
\nbecause of a benign tumor
\nthat is taking over.
\nWhat’s benign about that?
\nI don’t know whether to be jealous that
\nshe doesn’t have cancer
\nor to dislike her for her fear.
\nI am a charitable guy and decide on the fear.<\/p>\n
Another draft of iodine.<\/p>\n
They take me away to put a shunt into
\nthe bulging vein in my inner elbow.
\nI have a jovial joshing contest with the nurse;
\nI am witty, fearless. I return to my cold chair.<\/p>\n
Another guy, an ex-student,
\nsits and talks to me for half an hour
\nmaking his success in life clear to me\u2014
\nhe ignores his fear; I like him.
\nTwenty minutes along,
\nthe technican steps into the waiting area
\nwhere the prisoners all sit freezing
\nin our hospital gowns and socks
\nand asks what he’s still doing here.
\n“I was enjoying the conversation,”
\nhe says, and continues telling me stuff.
\nI like him. More people arrive, change
\nfearfully into their patient uniforms
\n(they must be patient, they lie folded on shelves
\nwithout complaint.) I hate them, jovially.
\nNow I know what my cats feel at the vet’s.
\nI smell the fear; I hate this place, too.<\/p>\n
More iodine to drink. It used to be for cuts:
\nstung like bee-stings on a scraped knee.
\nI think of Socrates, having a swig of hemlock.
\nI like Socrates: my kind of guy.<\/p>\n
They go in; they come out; my turn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some wit asked me if I was having my cat scanned, and that kind of pissed me off because he stole my line. How does he know whether I have cats? He goes in for his scan. They give me … Continue reading