Earth moves slowly beneath us as we wait

waiting at clinic.
man snoring softly
next to me.
pay $35 upfront.
Can you make a payment
on your balance?

Sit, wait.
Man snores.
Check email on phone.
Check email on phone.
Read Terabithia
Read Norma Cantu.
Sit, wait.
Check email on phone.
Return email to Lina,
Re: location of panteon.
Sit, wait, clouds form.
Looks like rain.

Read Emmy’s poems.
Envious, lovely forms.
Man snores.
Check email on phone.

Quiet coughing spell
with cough drops
gifted by my mom
before she left us,
left the valley for
colder seasons.
Snow, trees.

Consider leaving.
Have already paid
$25 upfront.
Entered a payment plan
for enormous balance
of allergy tests
insurance didn’t cover.
Who knew?
Sit, Wait.

“¿Tiene cita?”
“¿Que doctor quiere ver?”
¿Tiene seguro?

Additional parking
in rear.
laugh at joke.

2 t.v.’s on.
one is english soap opera
with volume turned down.
other is spanish
morning today style show
turned up
we are glued.

Wait.
Man is called.
Lunch hour is over.
Doctors return.
Think twice
about being here.
I’ve already paid.

Finish chapbook.
Check email on phone.
Check email on phone.
Text sister,
babysit on Friday?

Will tell Dr.
of insurance change.
So MRI’s and cat scans
and sleep studies a go.
at affordable prices
with payment plans.

hope she doesn’t
get mad
i haven’t done
them yet.

wait,sit,wait.
Man with cane shuffles in.
A Señora with another Señora
walk in.
“aqui traigo a mi comadre
Ya no ve”

Check email on phone.
think of music.
think of poems.
think of poems
in text form.
think of devils
and twenty dollar bills.

Check email on phone.
Sip water,
parched painful.
they call my name.
nurse says
“dr says she knows
whats wrong with you
again.”
so predictable, I am.
yes, on throat, yes
on sinuses.
Nurse hands me
allergy results,
he says
no more mangoes
no more bananas
he says
start eating meat again.
he doesn’t know
my heart is
allergic to eating blood
(yes, trauma dramatic
induced by 100.1 fever)
dr. meki walks in
touches my knee
sorry to be late.

i tell her of exams
she says its pap smear
time, save myself–
i’m bleeding.
RX for throat, nose, head.
I Think she likes me
maybe one day
I’ll tell her everything