Reasons in Triage

Stephanie Kapinos

Numb legs
Paralyze me
From taking the steps
You ask me to walk,
Just not to walk away entirely.

Disdainful accusations
Cause me to hang up the phone,
I go deaf. Can you hear me now?
I won’t listen to the answers
To the questions I don’t want to ask.

My heart murmurs hate;
I hear the defect in every beat;
A hairline fracture in the good china
Imperfections you can’t stand.

I can no longer see
A future, neither do you,
You think in terms of us,
I think in terms of me.
The opposite of protocol.

He shattered my spine
And I can’t stand up
To face them, him, you.
Curl into my blankie,
Hoping you’ll become my fabric,
My cartilage.

TBI – Traumatic Brain Injury—
Terminated Because of Injustice.
Our minds have split
Into murder and suicide.
I can’t remember
Cutting my wrists.

He stabbed me in the cervix,
I’m etherized on the table,
You hold the scalpel, cut my chest
With intentions to repair my insides,
Then freeze and watch as my blood
Pools at your feet.

All material on this site is copyright of Stephanie Kapinos McClintick unless otherwise indicated. This includes, but is not limited to, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, criticism, reviews, and images. Distribution or copying of this material is strictly prohibited without written permission from the owner. © 2006