Talk Poetry by Mairead Byrne

I went to the doctor

I went to the doctor. It had been so long since I'd seen a doctor I thought she was doing an interview with me. When we first met, she said: Married, Single, Widowed, Divorced? I thought that was a bit personal. But I told her about my children, my husbands, my job, my furnace, my fall. About how I slept like a top. And Gold's Gym. And the sunken garden in the Pendleton House which is a house inside a museum. And my famous story of how I immigrated 11 years ago with $400 and a 7-year old child. We talked about poetry. Well, duh. But it was actually much broader than most poetry interviews, looser yet more intense. She asked me about drug use. Marijuana. Cocaine. That made me laugh. Everyone was so interested in me. It was marvelous. Even the nurse in Reception asked as she was passing: Do you happen to know your height? Boy did I! Then the Office Manager arranged all my appointments. I haven't had so much attention since the MLA or my first wedding. I'm going back.

by Mairead Byrne
published by Fascicle
and in her book Talk Poetry