Primary....Care

Early morning


The exam room.....




When I look in the mirror


A stranger stares back at me




How so?




The face is not mine


The eyes are too far apart


The left higher then the right


and the lips are too close to the nose




Could it be that you no longer recognize yourself?



And when I walk


Everything is leaning...


roads, sidewalks, people



Has your life lost balance?



And my chest


Every time I think


or worry


Pain



Is it your heart that hurts? Has the sadness consumed you?




And sometimes


sometimes


when I'm alone


I talk to myself




Like you have not a friend in the world?




Silence



And then a knock on the door


"Doctor....doctor?"


"Yes?" I respond awaking from my reverie


"Your first patient is here....



shall I send her in?"




From the chapbook Primary Care, The Lives You Touch Publications