Poetry and Medicine

She came in, illiterate, bug-eyed, smiling,

And nodded her head when she spoke,
Joking about anything so that we wouldn’t

Become a call and chorus, and so we joked

Until we found our rhythm,

A calm haiku.

Why did you come here?

There is a large, itchy lump

On my vagina.

And we found peace in the closure of a couplet.

You don’t have to look down there, do you?

I don’t if you don’t want me to.