Appointment

They are full today.
It is a blocked date.
We are dying to get in,
everyone is dying;
there is no room for death
with nurses on vacation,
so you’ll have to wait
for a space in your name.
Hold that pain, drink
your pills, take all the mgs,
and they’ll be with you, shortly.

My mother holds her bowel
movements and platelets
in one hand, gesturing
with the other. In her agony,
she says, “It’s terrible that
they’re full. Really terrible
that all those rooms are filled.”

more by JULIA GARI WEISS

Photograph by Ryan McGuire