Dale Wisely i Since September of the Year of the Locusts, progressive degenerative changes have occurred on the lumbar spine from C4 to C6 inclusive. Marked spur formations continue to jingle jangle as patient rides merrily along. In the intervertebral foramina bilaterally, the prayers of demented accountants have lodged. No fracture is identified and this patient will never suffer a fracture in the future. This is my pledge. ii Degenerative disc disease is not seen in the cervical spine, and its absence is most severe at C9 and C10. Patient's fears of becoming like her mother as she ages are present, along with a subclinical scoliosis convexity toward the right. And, what is this? What is this thing that's shaped kind of like Poland? Oh, God, what is it? iii The entire thoracic spine is missing and has been replaced by discs crafted from the left femur of a lesser ape, species unknown, which formerly resided at the Lisbon Zoo, or perhaps the Gradina Zoologica in Brasov, Romania. iv CHEST The heart outline is vague and the hilar and mediastinal vessels are of normal appearance. No disease is seen in the lung fields or pleura. O this heart. Patient comes to us with a heavy heart. O this heart. v There was no abnormality in the lower esophagus and no hiatus hernia was detected. The stomach and duodenum appeared normal. This is good. Don't you think this poor woman has suffered enough? A beautiful view of the snow-covered Grand Tetons towering over the Snake River and Jackson Hole. Here, a sunset in the Panamint Range high above the floor of Death Valley. And here, the moon, in full eclipse, as viewed from a small ranch in Wyoming. A sleepy child is seen, roused from her bed by her father and carried into the yard, to see the great sphere in the night sky, all of roundness there is, and all of rust. | This poem originally appeared on poetry website which has since vanished. Someone wrote and asked me for it. So. It's right over there. <- |