Eloise Klein Healy
—
Patient
At 8:00 am, the doctor asked,
“Do you feel pain? How are you walking?”
I know he is speaking to me,
but I’m not even able
to remember my name.
Level 3, Northridge Rehab
I don’t know words well enough
but it’s pretty busy to hear it,
then read, spelling one at a time.
No matter, I’m being helped
while I’m walking,
my balance isn’t teasing
or touching me, just laughing a little.
My waist is handled and guided
to where my own room has a window.
Don’t know everything
about where I lived before.
Eloise Klein Healy, the author of nine books of poetry, was named the first Poet Laureate of Los Angeles in 2012. She was the founding chair of the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Antioch University Los Angeles. Her forthcoming book, A Brilliant Loss, will be published in 2022.
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