How to behave in a hospital:

be direct

but friendly

be honest

but smart

not nervous (don’t fidget.

         don’t check the box “I think about death)

sit with the sensation of their naturescape wall

(kitsch pixelations

of some lake in late spring)

but they could be portraits of someone from home

s c a t t e r e d

         h o m e

(of a long time drifter)

         “immunization records?”

         “oh, um, they’re lost.”

I may as well be a new animal

sauntering in from that wall

in extraterrestrial skin

wondering, “can I find nourishment here?”