Today even blood can kill, I can tell
through a bag marked BIOHAZARD. Doc says
my back is bad, recommends more foam
in the sole ("With these shoes you hardly
feel the earth"). Nothing’s touching, I notice
around the sterilized office: tray here, pads there,
swabs over some. Gloves between me
and my healer, paper between me
and the seat, latex between lovers, what’s it
coming to? Expanse’s expense is a distance
you can learn from any pre-packaged fork
in the hospital café, eating in our cultural
fashion, with middlemen, no fingers. Clean
utensils for hands who knows what’s on.
through a bag marked BIOHAZARD. Doc says
my back is bad, recommends more foam
in the sole ("With these shoes you hardly
feel the earth"). Nothing’s touching, I notice
around the sterilized office: tray here, pads there,
swabs over some. Gloves between me
and my healer, paper between me
and the seat, latex between lovers, what’s it
coming to? Expanse’s expense is a distance
you can learn from any pre-packaged fork
in the hospital café, eating in our cultural
fashion, with middlemen, no fingers. Clean
utensils for hands who knows what’s on.