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Benign or Malignant

by Carey Link

I've memorized protocol:

Name:  Carey Link
Date of Birth: 2-12-75
Last 4 of Social: xxxx

Pass.

Bitter-sour
salt of saline hangs-

I give three vials
of O-.

Pass.

Freeze.

A new typography on the right at 1:00.
What are the shapes of its curves-signs-symbols?

I hear a crooked, homeless puzzle of half-syllables without strings.
I play Hang Man with strangers.

Dots of me are scanned-stained-dipped-strained.

What is my next move?

Carey lives with metastatic cancer. "Benign or Malignant?" was inspired by an oncology appointment, when a mass was discovered on her breast. She has published two poetry collections, What it Means to Climb a Tree (Finishing Line Press) and Awakening to Holes in the Arc of Sun (Mule on a Ferris Wheel).