anamnesis

 

anamnesis

          You’re having a breakdown,

          but never mind. We’ll go

           to the doctor right now.

             --the medic, Chekhov

While coffee brews,

I read headlines in the paper,

pour half a cup

interrupting the inner-action

of water and bean

turn towards my studio

carrying the paper

setting it on the floor

by the butterscotch

chair, opening stories

of Chekhov, where

for three days

I've been reading

The Breakdown, each

time, interrupted

by whom, if not

God? Resuming

still early

the only way

I'll ever know,

remembering,

remembering

and looking up words

Jim Bodeen

12 February 2022