it is internship year

1993

it is internship year
I can't write any poetry

I had a dream,

that I wrote some poetry
at the bottom
of a progress note
and painted a light grey border around it –

I had to tear it off

you can't write poetry
in a patient's chart

I had a dream,

a patient
was trying to kill me –

I beat his head against the ground
I ran away
I woke up
I had a nervous tic
in my left eye
for one week
even when I didn't drink too much coffee

I can't write poetry this year –

maybe if I could write,
I wouldn't have gotten that tic
I wouldn't have had those dreams