Monday, April 20, 2026

poem

 Hernias

It was booked as a very straight forward repair

The hernia was of moderate size, maybe 

An hour of work patching it up, I told her.

But once inside I kept finding other holes

And in each of the holes there was something

Else hiding that shouldn’t have been there

Her inner shield pocked like a thin

Slice of swiss cheese 

Since I was there 

I didn’t want to leave any vulnerabilities 

Behind but the holes never seemed to end 

I lost track of time 

And forgot my own name.

After a while she had to get going,

Got married, moved on with her life,

Took a job in a different state with a plastics manufacturing plant

In the test lab but I kept toiling.

To this day I continue to keep watch

Probing her core for weak spots

Sealing all nascent gaps.

Nothing gets out 

I promised her that.

From the outside you’d think

She was perfectly fine


4/20/26

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