YISKA ND KNIFE
Yiska slides
a knife blade
across her
soft pink palm
a thin line
of blood comes
seeping out
she watches
the blood seeps
down her arm
I watch her
and the knife
but am too
drugged up to
be alarmed
whose's the knife?
I ask her
thin red lines
move downward
I stole it
from the tray
supper time
while the nurse
was busy
with the pills
she tells me
want the knife?
not just now
too drugged up
I tell her
blood drips down
to the floor
pitter pat
Yiska no
a nurse calls
from the door
of the room
put it down
Yiska stares
at the nurse
then at me
up to you
I mutter
the nurse stares
anxiously
another nurse
comes along
don't Yiska
the nurse says
place down please
Yiska sighs
long and deep
then hands me
the handle
of the knife
I give it
to the nurse
the fat nurse
takes Yiska
by the arm
to a room
at the side
marked in red
MEDICAL
they go in
the door shuts
I stand there
while the nurse
the thin one
cleans the floor
of the blood
I study
the knife blade
Yiska's blood
settled there
best be off
the nurse says
how'd she get
the darn knife?
I am dumb
with the words
pack them off
in my head
as I walk
to gaze out
the window
at the fields
and tall trees
white with snow.
