Mammogram by Jo McDougall

via  The Writer's Almanac


Mammogram


'They're benign,' the radiologist says,
pointing to specks on the x ray
that look like dust motes
stopped cold in their dance.
His words take my spine like flame.
I suddenly love
the radiologist, the nurse, my paper gown,
the vapid print on the dressing room wall.
I pull on my radiant clothes.
I step out into the Hanging Gardens, the Taj Mahal,
the Niagara Falls of the parking lot.

by Jo McDougall
from her book Satisfied with Havoc, Autumn House Press, 2004



http://www.JoMcDougall.net