Nurse Lady Pocket

"Ladies and Gentlemen"

I trip over the television wires
and cuss loudly as I gather my notes.
I look slow, but feel fast and strong.
I approach the podium.
I grab the long, thin microphone
and swing it forcefully at the wooden dais.
It snaps with an amplified clatter.
The crowd makes a collective noise
that I cannot define.
I turn to them and fling my robe behind me.
I am naked!
I scream.
My poem
is still on my lips the next day,
as I struggle to eat soup in the dining room
at lunch time.

I fall

asleep.

The nurse says I have been here
for seven years.
I ask for my medication.
She gives me a pill and puts one
in her pocket.
I smile and tell her
it's okay.
I have to go.
I will be back in a few days.
She laughs and turns off
the light.

An orange spider feeds on my hand
as I drift into a black cloud.

I trip
over the television wires
and cuss loudly.