In the waiting room, 

mosquitoes hover

I clench my fists tight and see my blood

getting drawn inside a thick syringe.

 

Once from the right 

once from the left

twice injured

 

I feel a sting at the back of my skull –

 

don't put any weight on your hands the nurse shouts

 

the world wants blood 

but I don't have enough.

 

A two year old cheerfully plays

with the butterfly ring on my finger

while I wait to replace a body

mine with a healthier one

 

A body without 

anxiety, sadness, arthritis, sciatica, broken fingers,

spondylitis, insomnia, loneliness, sprains and spasm,

back ace, frozen shoulders, high prolactin,

intense dizziness and aging in a city's summer dream.