Doctor,
Your question,
my chronic pain.
My answer,
at your request, 1-10.
But first, can you tell me
1-10:
How much you love
each of your children?
1-10: How much you would miss your sibling
versus your spouse?
1-10: How you would order
your senses?
Lose the wild raspberry and amber
spray of sunset, versus
the scent of your newborn’s skin?
1-10: Where your passions fall?
Your successes, your failures,
your dreams?
I am not sure, at all, Doctor,
you understand the weight
1-10 implicates—the hidden
balances, agendas, the compensatory scales.
If I were to tell you
that the way down is deep,
the sinking long,
and you won’t make the next narrow pass
without two oars,
Doctor, which
one
would you choose?