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Appointment No. 3

Appointment No. 3

– Poetry by Andie Italia –

Featured in issue 14 of Dreamers Magazine

I call it spring cleaning
Annual and always about cobwebs
Antiseptic and sanitizer
Cool air and the sweat of social anxiety
My doctor does not know
What my nose and mouth look like
And has still seen more of me
Than any man has

I am not afraid of the dark
Until the lights go out
In an ultrasound tech’s office
I fold my arms like micro-origami
If I make myself small enough
Maybe I can hide under this crepe paper sheet

I do anything I can to avoid
Eye contact with my uterus
She and I can remain acquaintances
Over the phone
I don’t need to see her face
To know the sound of her voice
I don’t need to see her strip
Or plant flowers in her outdoor pots
Pressing the soil with her fingers
Skin riddled with soft indentations
Barely discernible air bubbles

I was never supposed to come here alone
I am not here for good news
I am here for an ultrasound tech
To turn down the lights
And ask about my upcoming trip
While she reaches up inside me
Searching for answers
That are not there
While my eyes are squeezed shut
And I try not to think
About my word choice were I to ask her
For a photo to take home

About the Author – Andie Italia
Andie Italia

Andie Italia is a pseudonym for a young poet from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  She has written poetry for years in the kind of notebooks one purchases in moments of frantic justification.  Only recently have these poems been tended to bloom in the daylight, as she works on her first collection of poetry.  Her dog, Atticus, wakes up from naps with bedhead and the poet deems this noteworthy enough to share.  You can find her on Instagram @andie.italia.poetry

Did you like this poem? Then you might also like:

The Identified Patient
What I want the surgeon to know
Sanctuary, and other poems
The Body as Poem
Metaplasia and other poems
This is What Death Does
Where Courage Lives
The Psychiatric Patient Profiled in My Application
Modern Medical Miracles
What the Mirror Says
Writing Myself Alive: An Episodic Poem
Breathing; Love These Lively Things
Oh Emma; Slow Dancing
In the Mirror, For My Mother
Zenstronomy: Zen of Instruction, Godma, Astrophysical Reality

To check out all the poetry available on Dreamers, visit our poetry section.

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