I put on somebody else's white coat--
In the pocket,
Cookies, quinine, a stethoscope.
They should have feared the female--
Those too ill to work,
Those too mad to think...
Tiny mosquito--
Entry through the skin is called subdural,
A kiss, a fever, this camp full of sleepers.
I made the sign of the cross.
I made diagnoses and prescriptions.
I had no training at all, and yet,
Many recovered and kissed my hand.
Many died and said nothing against me.
At night,
The toads were thick in the jungle, calling.
In my tent, I listened for my own heart beat, finding it strong and heady.
I took down the netting,
And dreamt of the curve of your hips as if I had gathered the hills above the hospital into my hands.
Sometimes the dead walk--
I disperse them with my happiness here,
In this delicious hell I stumbled into,
Smiling,
Smelling the glory and the endless easy blood.
_______
Really good medicine, Shay...
ReplyDeleteeven without a license
Yep, fear the female,and that one last kiss before goodnight.
Cool trip to the jungle!Love "those too mad to think" :)
ReplyDeleteUmm,
ReplyDeleteYou REALLY know how to write :-)
"And dreamt of the curve of your hips as if I had gathered the hills above the hospital into my hands." Woo hoo!
ReplyDeleteI think this might be a short story waiting to happen, too. Such a fabulous idea, and you've got some gorgeous lines.
I too am especially struck by the lines that Patricia pointed out-- amazing imagery. And the ending is fantastic. Great offering today, Shay!
ReplyDeletei like playing in the hills...i hear they are alive with the sound of music...kinda made me think of chevy chase in spies like us...doctor doctor...ok not really...good night good doctor.
ReplyDeleteThis is one that gets quite subdural its own self--several re-reads later, I particularly like the fourth stanza--very sonorous--just for the way it reads, so full of certainty. The toads, also, I like. The ending--ah, the ending. Just who exactly is the queen of the vampires tonight? So glad I drug myself out of bed and got over here.
ReplyDeleteGolly - how did you dream that up?
ReplyDeleteThe Queen is a multitasker ...
ReplyDeleteThat last line is a killer!
ReplyDeleteSometimes who lives and who dies is dependent on FATE, not on who wears the white coat. I believe that with ALL my heart.
ReplyDeleteI believe this is still as good as the last time I read it. This time through the language strikes me as sparse but totally lush and eerie, and the sense of a bad, bad fever is dark and sinister under the sensuality.
ReplyDeleteI know this is absolutely unhelpful, but every once in a while I really like a poem but cannot for the life of me find the words to explain why, and this piece falls into that category.
ReplyDeleteI know this is absolutely unhelpful, but every once in a while I really like a poem but cannot for the life of me find the words to explain why, and this piece falls into that category.
ReplyDeleteI like the jungle witch doctor, stolen white coat. Love your ending:
ReplyDelete"Smelling the glory and the endless easy blood"
rosemarymint.wordpress.com
Oooh, this is sooo bad, and sooo goooood!
ReplyDeletebad and good! so hot you're cool, so cool, you're hot. or something like that.
ReplyDeleteBreaking all the rules and succeeding despite it all. Rebel with a cause.
ReplyDeleteThe hips being gathered like hills is a very luscious description......wowzers. This is very good, a bit frighteningly so:)
ReplyDeleteThere is a subtle flirtation with death at work here: preservation of life opposed to destruction of it: the gift of healing, the unfortunate deaths, and the speaker herself seems to invite the malignant mosquito to bite and invade her own blood, with the taking down of the nets at night: perhaps a death wish, long unfulfilled, in order to be reunited with a lover who has passed away?
ReplyDeleteVery good story-telling, with all the twists and turns that make your tales unique.
the privilege of beauty is the license to kill thrill and heal...count me among the thrilled.fabulous piece.
ReplyDeleteI wish to tell you that I enjoyed reading so much....you write so beautifully...
ReplyDeleteKiller poem! You made me think a little bit about Dexter here! The fear of feminine is my favorite line today. :)
ReplyDeleteKiss you. <3
the endless, easy blood...
ReplyDeletefear the female.
absolutely. especially the one that takes down the mosquito nets. the one that fears nothing in return.
felt the smoke of this one.
I read this three times and read most of the comments.. I too, like Kerry, pondered over the taking down of that net - as if she wanted the mosquitos to bite her...
ReplyDeleteLeaves me with many questions... :)