diagnose me

the gown ties in the back
she presses down the tongue compressor,
and I say ‘ah’

she shines the light in my ear
‘where does it hurt?’ she asks me
and I say ‘everywhere’

she takes my temperature
she x-rays my soul and asks when I ate last
and I say ‘two weeks’

I turn and cough
she asks how many hours I slept last night
and I say ‘1.5’

and she nods with understanding
I ask her what’s wrong with me
and she says ‘it’s love’

(c) j r baugher 2004