BIOPSY
As we drive the back road
to the hospital, redbuds swell
to blossom. On this day
of your surgery, flowers
stage themselves against
the gray-rain sky.
Tree-eating mowers shred
the greening branches
as the surgeon will slice
cells from your breast.
Flower by flower,
magenta falls from slashed limbs,
covering the road’s shoulder.
Section by section,
cells cover the slides,
the pathologist will render
a judgement.
On the wounded boughs,
the remaining leaves
begin to mend
the damage
of steel.
Iris
