The Doctors
The doctors will see you but the bill
you know how that one goes
a miracle my good credit
someone hasn’t done the math
missing thousands I’ll never have
gladioli red and white a dollar a stem
I spend whatever I get prudence
hasn’t happened yet a visit
I’m expecting to be seen too well
one day one finger on the blood pressure
the other on my information this too:
I hate to think of every needle each blade
on its quick way into me my whole life
what did I do for all these knives?
LIam October O’Brien
Liam October O’Brien grew up on a small island. Some of his recent work can be found in West Branch, the Bennington Review, and Nightboat Books' We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics. He received an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop; since then, he's worked in kitchens and as a schoolteacher. He lives in New York City.