in the infirmary the visions grow in number
every time they take my pulse another one
I imagine they are born in my blood I imagine they are borne into the world
every time I take a breath
the doctors do not tell me anything people stopped
telling me anything months ago
mostly I am afraid of the visions but in the operating room
they multiply grow gentle sweetly they tell me the story of my life
once your father held you on his shoulders so you could put your fingers
high in the church rafters and look for God
once you knew the name for every butterfly that flocked into the valley
I’m young when they have told the whole story they go back to singing
one bright morning I’ll fly away
as I wake they tell me not to worry with the soreness or the burning
we are everything that you will ever need to make
from The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and FeeblemindedFind it in the library
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