Colonoscopy, with Xopenex
by Paul Adkins
It’s a minor procedure.
The nurse snorted. She probed for a vein.
Empty gurneys passed.
I thought of my mother years ago
in a similar dim room
dying,
a humming doctor
sounding her carotid
for pulse.
Behind my curtain,
a patient explained
her ritual of Xopenex.
The RN sighed – Uh hunh.
My wife smoothed my forehead –
It’s a minor procedure.
She was ushered out.
I stared at the ceiling,
its perforated tiles.
All those little black stars aligned.
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