The Human Exhibit

Image courtesy of Kittimages/iStock

for Mira, born with gastroschisis

The incubator’s wall partitions

her body from the ward’s

trespass — ITC, gavage tube,

sunlight synthesized as if mistaken

for gossip. In the midst

of its chatter, a physician reaches

through the left-hand port

to smooth her feet — a kick,

then another, and touch urges

her to display a smile, a laugh,

a sweep of saint-like submissiveness.