You are vertiginous in your form,
The way you wrap your muscular body
Through and around
The bony, foraminal arms
Of your dance partners,
A warm, pulsating reach
From the base of the neck
To an apex tucked beneath
The folds of falling hair.
As a surgeon I am taught to respect you,
Like a beautiful woman of royalty,
To know where you are at all times,
To look for you in advance,
Your dance steps traced
In the flounce of radiographic images
As clearly as a paparazzo’s
Photographic trail.
What is it then that brings the fairy tale
To the real world …
What but a stroke
Of grave importance? …
The world that lives upon your rich generosity,
Cut off in a capricious, thrombotic moment,
As you were compressed,
Extended, in the arms of one of your lovers.
So in starving the world you feed,
I am called in to rescue you,
Allowed the perilous privilege
Of stepping beyond
The bony walls that hide you,
To see you, face to face,
A bright smiling Diana,
Released from the choking hold
Of her proscribed, sequestered steps —
Vertiginous, dance on princess.
Footnotes
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Previously published at www.cmaj.ca
Dr. Eubanks’ poetry has appeared in JAMA, The Annals of Internal Medicine and other journals. He has also published a collection, Rotations: A Medical Student’s Clinical Experience.